
v • i 



I 



4 



X 



X 



' * ■ " ■q p 









► < 



rrirrnr^rii 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
Sh'elfPC 



UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. 





»sl 







r 



FOREGLEAMS OF IMMORTALITY, 



IN MEMORIAM. 



7 



ROSE PORTER, 

Author of u In the Shadow of His Hand" etc. 



0^ 




1 









NEW YORK: 
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY, 

900 BROADWAY, COR. 20th STREET. 






OF CONGKJfflB 
WASHINGTON 



COPYRIGHT, 1884, BY 
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY. 



Edward 0. Jenkins' Sons, 

Printers and Stertotypers^ 

20 North William Street, New York. 



PREFACE. 



FOREGLEAMS I call this simple book. 

But, in it you will find no effort to picture the 
' Hereafter/ when that picture is merely an out- 
growth of imagination. 

Neither will you find any attempt to solve spec- 
ulative inquiry. 

It is only a little volume of comfort, lovingly in- 
scribed to the sorrowful by one who sorrows — yet, 
" sorrows not without Hope." 

Its In Memoriam pages are only the narrative, 
in outline, of one whose dear life on earth helped 
to illuminate Heavenly Foregleams. 

For, Christ was in her thoughts ; hence memo- 
ries of her are all ^-lifting. 



CONTENTS. 



PART FIRST. 
Scripture Gleanings of Heavenly Foregleams, . . 7 

PART SECOND. 
Prelude — In Memoriam, 43 



PART FIRST. 






Remember : 

"Christ has opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all 
believers. — 

" He, Himself, by His doing and dying, has let down 
the patriarch's typical ladder; by it, we are invited to 
enter within the Gates." 



GOSPEL COMFORT. 

" To them which sat in the shadow of death, light is 
sprung up." 

COME, dear sorrowing ones — you who weep by 
new-made graves — and together, let us gather up 
and bind into a crown of comfort what we know 
from our Saviour's words of the Sureness of Life 
Hereafter. 

1 What we know ? ' — ' Yes y know, 9 for Christ said : 

" I am the Resurrection and the Life. He that 
believeth on Me, though he were dead, yet shall 
he live. ,, 

" In my Father's house are many mansions ; if 
it were not so I would have told you. I go to 
prepare a place for you ; that where I am there 
ye may be also." 

For, 

" This is the will of Him that sent me, that every 

(ii) 



I2 FOREGLEAMS. 

one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, 
may have everlasting Life." 

Remember, 

" It is your Father's good pleasure to give you 
the kingdom." 

" Lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven — for 
— where your treasure is, there will your heart be 
also." 

But, 

" Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which 
leadeth unto Life." 

And yet, 

" They shall come from the east and from the 
west, from the north and from the south, and shall 
sit down in the kingdom of God." 

For, 

"As touching the dead, that they rise. — Have 
ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush 
God spake unto him, saying, * I am the God of 
Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of 
Jacob.' — He is not the God of the dead, but the 
God of the living!' 

" Neither can they die any more, for they are 
equal unto the angels, and are the children of God, 
being the children of the Resurrection." 



GOSPEL COMFORT. 



13 



And, 

"All live unto Him/' 

" Rejoice because your names are written in 
Heaven/' 

And, 

" I say unto you, my friends : Be not afraid of 
them that kill the body, and after that have no 
more that they can do." 

For, 

" Verily I say unto you, he that believeth on 
Him that sent Me, hath everlasting Life." 

And, 

" I am the Good Shepherd. My sheep hear My 
voice, and I know them, and they follow Me — and 
I give unto them eternal Life, and they shall never 
perish ; neither shall any man pluck them out of 
My hand." 

Then, 

" Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but 
for that which endureth unto everlasting Life." 

" And this is the Father's will which hath sent 
Me, that of all which He hath given Me, I should 
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the 
last day." 

" I will raise Him up." 



I4 FOREGLEAMS. 

What a comfort-promise that, for you, and for 

me. Truly we sorrow — God alone knows how 

dee- r c have Hope. 

And now — do y ; u ask — ' Are there for us mc 
ers yet more words of com: :r: spoken by Christ 
our Lord ? ' 

Yes. — many more, for it is written, and the 
ord is still Christ's voice, — 

11 When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, 
and all the holy angels with Him. then shall He sit 
upon the throne of His g.ory. and before Him shall 
be gathered all nations: and He shall separate the 
one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep 
from the goats ; and He shall set the sheep on His 

right hand. Then shall the King say unto them 

on His right hand: Come, ye blessed of My Father, 

inherit the Kingdom prepared for you go — the 

righteous into Life eternal." — 

But — "to sit on My right hand and on My left, 
is not Mine to give, but it shah be given to them for 
whom it is prepared of My Father." 

11 Verily, verily, I say unto you. the hour is com- 
ing, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice 
of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live." 



GOSPEL COMFORT. 



15 



" Marvel not at this : for the hour is coming, in 
the which all that are in the graves shall hear His 
Voice, and shall come forth : they that have done 
good, unto the Resurrection of Life." 

" Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth 
on Me hath everlasting Life." 

And, our dear ones did believe. 

Remember, " in a higher sense, than any of the 
other miracles, our Lord's three raisings from the 
dead are revelations of Divine power, and are 
charged with meanings more profound and far- 
reaching — and when accepted in simple trustful- 
ness, they are fraught with consolation and hope." 
— Ponder them thus, and " in their light rejoice ; 
for as the dead who were raised on earth were re- 
stored to the friends that were nearest and dearest, 
and surrounded when they awoke by all the ten- 
der and hallowed associations of home, so may we 
hope, when our eyes open in Heaven, we shall be 
at Home, — and in the midst of the faithful hearts, 
and the familiar faces that we loved and lost." 

For, " God in these miracles has crowned our 
human affections with the highest glory, and made 
them the pledges of their own immortality." 



16 FOREGLEAMS. 

And now, note the law of progression which rules 
in them. — A law which always rules in Scripture- 
teaching. — They rise one above another — each 
pointing to the " mightier miracle of Christ's resur- 
rection. " — And that points still onward and upward 
— for, " As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all 
be made alive ! " 

" Thy daughter is dead — trouble not the Master. 
— But when Jesus heard it, He answered, saying: 
Fear not, believe only, and she shall be made whole. 
— And all wept and bewailed her — and they laughed 
Him to scorn, knowing she was dead." 

" But He said, Weep not. — And He took her 
by the hand, and called, saying — ' Maid, arise/ — 
And her spirit came again, and she arose straight- 
way." 

" Now, when He — Jesus — came nigh to the gate 
of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried 

out And He came and touched the Bier — 

and He said, i Young man, I say unto thee arise ! ' — 
And he that was dead sat up and began to speak." 

" Then said Jesus unto them, l Lazarus is dead.' 
Jesus saith unto her, l Thy brother shall rise 



again/ And He cried with a loud voice, l Lazarus, 



GOSPEL COMFORT. 1 7 

come forth ' — and — he that was dead came 
forth ! "- — 

Now come precious words for us sorrowers — 
pledge words of immediate entrance for our dear 
ones. — No long journey for them : one moment 
they are with us here, the next — with Christ Thei'e. 
For " the gate of death, and the gate of Heaven 
are one." 

" And Jesus said unto him, Verily to-day shalt 
thou be with Me in Paradise/' 

" And it came to pass that the beggar died, and 
was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom." 



' O Paradise ! O Paradise ! 

Wherefore doth death delay, 
Bright death, that is the welcome dawn 
Of our eternal day. " 



Remember, " this is the might of faith ; it medi- 
ates between death and life, transmuting death into 
life and immortality " — through Christ— it is all 
through Christ— He who taught His disciples, and 
said unto them : 

"The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of 



X 8 FOREGLEAMS. 

men, and they shall kill Him, and after that He is 
killed, He shall rise again. " 

For, 

" As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wil- 
derness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that 
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but 
have eternal Life/' 

Yes, " God so loved the world that He gave 

His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
on Him should not perish, but have everlasting 
Life." 

"And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, 
He said : i Father, into Thy hands I commend my 
spirit/ and having said thus, He gave up the 
ghost." 

"Jesus when He had cried with a loud voice 
yielded up the ghost." 

" And the graves were opened ; and many bodies 
of the saints which slept arose — and came out of 
the graves." 

" Now in the place where He was crucified, there 
was a garden ; and in the garden a new sepulchre, 
wherein was never man yet laid. — There laid they 
Jesus." — 



GOSPEL COMFORT. 



19 



And now the sequel ! — Hope through the Risen 
Christ ! 

Hope of Resurrection for our beloved, -and for 
ourselves. — 

With reverence we come to it. — " And the angel 
said, * Fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus 
which was crucified. — He is not here, for — He is 
Risen. — Come, see the place where the Lord lay." 

"And — Behold Jesus met them saying — * All 
hail! Be not afraid/ " 

Ah ! so tender is the comfort of that ' Be not 
afraid' for us who mourn. 

And think — the first revelation of the Risen 
Lord was to one who wept ! — 

And He — our Emmanuel of all Pity and Conso- 
lation — uttered no word of rebuke for those tears — 
only — He said, "Woman, why weepest thou?" — 

Only — He called her by name — " Mary." And — 

He calls us by name — as we weep. 

Ah ! the tenderness. 

You know the revelations that follow. And 

each record that tells that Christ appeared after the 
Resurrection morning is a Foregleam, a star in a 
cloudless sky for you — and for me — with its glow 
of sure, on-reaching Hope. 



20 FOREGLEAMS. 

Let us linger in thought over one or two — 
they hold great consoling — for remember — after the 
first appearing which was to the ' heart of love,' 
woman's heart — the Lord revealed Himself " to the 
mind of thought — to reasoning men." 

And still another revelation, this time not only 
Faith converting, but Peace confirming. 

" Jesus stood in the midst, and saith unto them, 
1 Peace be with you.' " 

And — does He not come to us now with the same 
blessed gift, — come when our hearts seem break- 
ing — whispering " Peace, — My Peace, I give unto 
you ? " 

A Peace so boundless and so free it even found 
a place for Thomas the doubter — and — oh, the love 
of it — the Lord's Peace-word for Thomas, holds for 
us, if we have faith, a wonderful benediction — for 
it holds sorrow's crown — a blessing. 

Christ said, " Blessed are they that have not seen, 
and yet have believed." — 

Do we believe? Is the blessing ours? 

" Lord, I believe. — Help Thou mine unbelief." 



"Jesus is God ! Let sorrow come, 
And pain, and every ill ; 



GOSPEL COMFORT. 2 l 

All are worth while, so all are means 

His glory to fulfil : 

Worth while a thousand years of life 

To speak one little word, 

If by our Credo we might own 

The Godhead of our Lord ! " — 



Our Risen Lord !- 



II. 

GLEAMS OF IMMORTALITY. 

" O, Bearer of the key 
That shuts and opens with a sound so sweet, 
Its turning in the wards is melody ; 
All things we move among are incomplete 
And vain until we fashion them in Thee ! " 

" Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither 
hath entered into the heart of man the things 
which God hath prepared for them that love Him." 

"But — God hath revealed them unto us by His 
Spirit." 

And, 

" Those things which are revealed belong unto 
us, and to our children." 

We are strangers — but — you sorrow — I sorrow — 
and sorrow makes us friends. — And I wonder — 
Can you say what I am trying to say ? 

" I know in whom I have believed, and am per- 
suaded that He is able to keep that which I have 
committed unto Him against that day." 

(22) 



GLEAMS OF IMMORTALITY, 



23 



Ah ! let us ask Him to help us truly to commit 
our treasures to Him. — Our dear ones whom He 
has called from earth to Heaven. 

We can not do it without His help, of that I am 
sure. — But — I am sure, too, if we ask He will help 
us to say, " Thy will be done." — And, when from 
our heart we can thus pray, then we may 

" Gather from every loss and grief, 
Hope of new spring, and endless Home." 

For, l ' while we are not as yet come to the Rest and 
the inheritance which the Lord our God giveth " — 
while we know, 

" This is not our Rest," we know, too, " There 

remaineth a Rest for the people of God." 

Think of it. — Our beloved, yours — mine — have 
entered into that Rest, " within the veil whither 
the Forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus." — 
Christ our Saviour — their Saviour. — He who said : 
" In my Father's house are many mansions ; I go to 
prepare a place for you." 

Is part of that blessed preparation even now 
being made ready for us by our dear departed ? 

We are told " they serve Him day and night." 

Sweet is the hope — comforting as a smile the 



24 



FOREGLEAMS. 



thought, that perhaps part of their glad service may 
be the making ready our Home welcome ! 

And yet, we in our loneliness weep because we 
miss them so. — Weep, even though we would not 
call them from Heaven to earth, for we know they 
are with Christ now — " which is far better." 

' Better ' — so much better than the very best our 
love could do for them — dear hearts. 

Yes. — " Far better," for " God hath wiped away 
all tears from their eyes. — No more death, neither 
sorrow nor crying for them. — Neither shall there be 
any more pain." They are safe — with Christ, 

" There where the wicked cease from troubling, 
and the weary are at Rest." 

Do you remember it is written, — and blessed are 
the words, — " I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, 
which no man could number, of all nations, and 
kindred, and people, and tongues, stood before the 
throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white 
robes, and palms in their hands, and cried with a 
loud voice, saying — ' Salvation to our God which 
sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb/ " 

And this God, whom they our loved ones thus 
praise, " is our God forever and ever." — " He will be 



GLEAMS OF IMMORTALITY. 



25 



our guide even unto death, and afterward receive 
us to glory." And He was their guide. — He has 
received them to glory. — " Which hope we have, 
as an anchor of the soul. ,, — And, 

" Hope can hope for no more, since it hopes, 
Lord! for Thee." 

"The gift of God is eternal Life — through Jesus 
Christ our Lord." 

Eternal Life ! wonderful gift. — And they our de- 
parted know now what that gift means. 

For, our Saviour "hath abolished death, and 
brought life and immortality to light through the 
Gospel." 

" But words may not tell of the vision of peace, — 
When the soul is at large, when its sorrows all cease, 
And the gift has outbidden its boldest desires/' — 

"Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable 
gift." ° 

Sorrowing one, be comforted. — " The Lord shall 
be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy 
mourning shall be ended." 

Have patience — only wait. — 



26 FOREGLEAMS. 

" Oh thou who mournest on thy way, 
With longings for the close of day, 
Bear up, bear on, the end shall tell, — 
The dear Lord ordereth all things well." 

Remember, dying here means living There. 

" He will swallow up death in Victory." 

He has done it for our garnered ones, for 

" What are these which are arrayed in white 
robes, and whence came they? These are they 
which came out of great tribulation. " Even our 
cherished ones — they who — spite our tender love — 
knew when on earth sore trials, heavy sorrows. 

But now! 

" They have washed their robes, and made them 
white in the blood of the Lamb." 

" In the blood of the Lamb." — That was their 
entrance place — through Christ — that their victory. 

And, 

" Therefore are they before the throne of God, 
and serve Him day and night in His temple— and 
He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among 
them." 

Oh, the Love of it all ! 

" They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any 
more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any 



GLEAMS OF IMMORTALITY. 



27 



heat. — For the Lamb which is in the midst of the 
throne shall lead them unto Living Fountains of 
waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their 
eyes. ,, 

And yet — even though we have this blessed as- 
surance that for them there are no more tears — no 
more sorrow, — we weep, I repeat — weep when He 
calls them to Himself! 

Well! " Jesus wept" He understands our 

tears — He recognized sorrow as sorrow. —— 

He prepared — by the promise of a l Comforter ' 
— His disciples for the grief and loneliness with 
which His departure from their mortal sight would 
fill their hearts — He knew they would need com- 
fort. 

He knows you need comfort. — And, " He will not 
leave you comfortless." 

" Am I comfortless ? Oh, no ! 
Jesus this pathway trod : 
And deeper in my soul than grief 
Art Thou, my dearest God ! " 

Here is a beautiful promise for us, when our dear 
ones " die in the Lord." 

" They shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in 



28 FOREGLEAMS. 

that day when I make up my jewels/' — " Dying in 
the Lord." — " It is the child of God falling asleep 
in the same arms of redeeming love in which he 
was always embraced, and where he was always 
safe." 

It is only going Higher Up ; of this we are sure. — 

For, 

" We know that if our earthly house of this 
tabernacle be dissolved we have a building of God, 
a house not made with hands, eternal in the heav- 
ens." — And — " so shall we ever be with the Lord." 

" A crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and 
a royal diadem in the hand of the Lord." 

Always we are in the hand of the Lord. — Our 
saints in the Light — we in the shadow. — Yet — it is 
His Hand — and " underneath are the everlasting 
arms." 

Think of this and be comforted — and as you 
think, 

" Death will have rainbows round it." 

For hope will whisper : " Christ hath loved us, 
and hath given Himself for us, that when His 
glory shall be revealed, we may be glad also with 
exceeding joy." 

Yes — weeping may endure for a night — this night 



GLEAMS OF IMMORTALITY. 



2 9 



of earthly life — these hours darkened by bereave- 
ment — but, 

" Joy cometh in the morning/' and — it is all 
morning There where they are " No night." 

In the morning the stone will be rolled away 
from the sepulchre where the angels watch and 
wait. — Angels asking, 

" Why seek ye the living among the dead ? " 

Ah ! Why do we ? 

Do you believe ? — It is written : " After that ye 
believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of 
promise which is the earnest of our inheritance. ,, 

" An inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, 
and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven." 

Remember it is a sure inheritance for us, and for 
ours whom God has called Home — its open gate — 
" Only believe." 

Sure ? Yes — perfectly sure. For Christ said, 

" Because I live, ye shall live also." Shall live, 
that is our promise for now. — And their prom- 
ise oh, ponder it, — " I give unto them eternal 

Life." 

Truly — " God so loved the world, that He gave 
His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 



jo FOREGLEAMS. 

on Him should not perish, but have everlasting 
life. ,, 

Pray to-day, and every day, the mourner's prayer 
of Hope, with its out-reach of re-union with those 
gone Home. 

" Lord, deliver me from every evil work, and 
preserve me unto Thy Heavenly Kingdom." 

And remember as thus you pray, you " have an 
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Right- 
eous." 

" He is our peace," for " By His own blood He 
entered into the holy place, having obtained eter- 
nal redemption for us." 

"And for this cause He is the Mediator of the 
New Testament, that by means of death for the 
redemption of the transgressors that were under 
the first testament, they which are called might re- 
ceive the promise of eternal inheritance." 

An Heavenly inheritance! blessed promise. 

" O ! I greatly long to see 

The special place my dearest Lord 
Is destining for me " 



There, 



" Where loyal hearts, and true, 
Stand ever in the light, 



GLEAMS OF IMMORTALITY. 

All rapture through and through 
In God's most holy sight." 



31 



Do you tell me — even in the presence of all 
these precious Foregleam words of consolation and 
hope, your poor heart still seems breaking with 
grief, longing, and loneliness for your depart- 
ed? 

Yes — I know and — words are empty. — — 



All you can do for comfort is to hold close in 
your innermost heart of thought the promise, 
" They are ever in the Light/' 

For, 

Christ said, " I am the Light, — and they are 
with Him — safe with Christ — satisfied — that is your 
comfort. 

11 1 shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy like- 
ness." — 

Satisfied ! Ponder that. It will prove a Green- 
Pasture word to you if you think of the one for 
whom you mourn as satisfied in that Light. 

A word that will lead you by " still waters," lead 
even to the Fountain of Living Waters. — 

But — do you say again, spite all this, fears still 
prevail, — fears for yourself — fears for your darling 
gone ? 



32 



FOREGLEAMS. 



Sometimes you are met by the silence and the 
mystery. Sometimes grief hedges you in. — 

Again, — I know — for did I not tell you I knew 
sorrow ? — 

I have met such hours. But — in the silence — 

out of the mystery I have heard the " Still Small 
Voice." 

Listen ! — and you will hear it too. — It may be 
only a whisper — but it is a whisper of Divine Love, 
and Heavenly Consolation. 

And — the Voice which says to you — " It is I, be 
not afraid," — is the same Voice that called your be- 
loved, saying: 

" Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the 
Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of 
the world." 

" Fear not, little flock, for it is your Fathers good 
pleasure to give you the Kingdom." 

Think — you, and yours are called : 

" Heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." — 

But remember there is an if in this wonderful 
heirship — its title reads, 

"If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may 
be also glorified together." 

Suffer! — Never forget when He sends suffering 



GLEAMS OF IMMORTALITY. 



33 



He comes in comforting. — The cross we call our 
cross is His cross too. 

Thus sorrow gives us a claim to come very near 
to Christ. — So near — His hand which you hold, 
holds your dear one's hand. — His face into which 
by faith you look beholds the face of your be- 
loved. 

His ear which hears your prayers, hears their 
praises. 



Are your fears hushed now 



? 



" Be thou faithful unto death, for he that over- 
cometh shall inherit all things." 

All things, " life, death, things present, and things 
to come, are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ 
is God's ! " 

Let us think for a moment of that word over- 
cometh. — Surely its frequent repetition is of signifi- 
cance. 

" To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with 
Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am 
set down with My Father in His throne." — 

How did Christ overcome? .... " And He fell 
on His face, and prayed, saying, ' O My Father, if it 

3 



34 



FOREGLEAMS. 



be possible, let this cup pass from Me — nevertheless, 
not as I will j but as Thou wilt! " 

Does that "as Thou wilt" hold our Saviour's 
Victory Hour ? 

Does the hour when we can say, " Thy will be 
done" hold for us the essence of the blessed over- 
cometh y that is now the heritage of our sainted 
ones? — they who have gone to receive the Lord's 
" I will " promises. — 

" To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the 
hidden manna." — 

Heavenly food for them. — Yet — we sorrow when 
He calls them. But, 

" We grieve not for their going, 
Their home and ours to find ; 
For us our tears are flowing, 
For us who stay behind." 

" He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed 
in white raiment, and I will confess his name be- 
fore My Father, and before His angels. — And I will 
write upon him My new name." 

" He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and 
I will be his God, and he shall be My son."— - 



GLEAMS OF IMMOR TALI TV. 35 

" To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the 
tree of Life, which is in the midst of the paradise 
of God/' 

" This is the victory that overcometh the world, 
even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the 
world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son 
of God." 

" Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the 
temple of My God, and he shall go no more out : 
and I will write upon him the name of My God, and 
the city of My God. ,, 

"That great city — the holy Jerusalem. " 



" And the street of the city was pure gold." — 

" And the city had no need of the sun, neither of 
the moon to shine in it : for the glory of God did 
lighten it — and the Lamb is the light thereof — and 
the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the 
light of it. — And there shall be no night there." — 

" And there shall in no wise enter in anything 
that defileth — but they which are written in the 
Lamb's book of Life." — 

"And he showed me a pure river of water of 
life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne 
of God and of the Lamb. — In the midst of the 
street of it, and on either side of the river, was there 



36 FOREGLEAMS. 

the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, 
and yielded her fruit every month : and the leaves 
of the tree were for the healing of the nations/' — 

11 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne 
of God and of the Lamb shall be in it: and His 
servants shall serve Him." — 

"And they shall see His face — and His Name 
shall be in their foreheads." 

" And there shall be no night there, and they 
need no candle, neither light of the sun : for the 
Lord God giveth them light : and they shall reign 
for ever and ever." 

"Jerusalem the glorious ! 
The glory of the Elect ! 
O dear and future vision 
That eager hearts expect ! 
Even now by faith I see thee, 
Even now thy walls discern : 
To thee my thoughts are kindled. 
And strive, and pant, and yearn. — 



Thou city of the angels ! 
Thou city of the Lord ! " — 

Now comes a blessing for us to ponder, " Blessed 
are the dead which die in the Lord ; they sing the 
song of Moses the servant of God — and the song of 
the Lamb, saying : 



GLEAMS OF IMMORTALITY. 37 

"Great and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God 
Almighty ; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King 
of saints. " 

"The Lord redeemeth the soul of His saints." 

His saints ! your dear one — my dear one. Yes — 
they are saints of God now. 

Ah ! think of the saints. — 

" Saints of the early dawn of Christ, 

Saints of imperial Rome, 
Saints of the cloistered middle age, 

Saints of the modern home ; 
Saints of the soft and sunny east, 

Saints of the frozen seas, 
Saints of the isles that wave their palms 

In the far Antipodes ; 
Saints of the marts and busy streets, 

Saints of the squalid lanes, 
Saints of the silent solitudes, 

Of the prairies and the plains ; 
Saints who are wafted to the skies 

In the torment-robe of flame, 
Saints who have graven on men's thoughts 

A monumental name ; 
Come, from the endless peace that spreads 

O'er the glassy sea. 
Come, from the choir with harps of gold, 

Harping their melody ; 
Come, from the home of holiest hope, 

Under the altar-throne. 
Come, from the depths where the angels see 

One awful Face alone, 



38 FOREGLEAMS. 

Come, from the heights where the mount of God 

Burns like a burnished gem, 
Come, from the star-paved terraces 

Of the New Jerusalem : 
Come, for we fain would hear the notes 

Of your sweet celestial hymn, 
And we fain would know what look is theirs 

Who look on the seraphim : 
Come, for our faith is waxing faint 

And the lamp of love burns low, 
Come, to these lower heavens and shine, 

That we may see and know : 
Come for the flash of a moment's space, 

With your snowy wings outspread, 
O God-lit cloud of witnesses, 

Souls of the sainted dead. " 



" And now may the God of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, the Father of glory, give unto you the 
spirit of wisdom and revelation of Him, that ye may 
know the riches of the glory of His inheritance in 
the saints." 

" In Thy presence is fulness of joy," that is where 
we think of our precious sainted ones. — In Christ's 
presence ! 

" And at Thy right hand there are pleasures for- 
evermore." 

Ah ! the comfort that we may thus think of 
them — so safe — so glad, for, 



GLEAMS OF IMMOR TA LIT Y. 39 

" Their Redeemer is strong. The Lord of hosts 
is His name." 

He gave Himself for their sins, and our sins, that 
" He might deliver us from the present evil world 
— and that through death He might destroy him 
that had the power of death." 

" Oh ! death, where is thy sting? The sting of 
death is sin, but thanks be to God who giveth us 
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 

Through Christ — and — " neither death, nor life, 
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor 
things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor 
depth, nor any other creature shall be able to sepa- 
rate us from the love of God which is in Christ 
Jesus our Lord." 

It is strange, when consolations shine from every 
page of the Book, that our hearts are sometimes all 
in a moment buried beneath the grief of our sor- 
row, as reeds are tossed before the north wind. 

We cry — out of the heart of agony — for one word — 
one smile — one touch of love. 

Truly in such hours " nothing but infinite pity 
is sufficient for the infinite pathos of human life '' 
— and its partings. 



40 



FOREGLEAMS. 



And so we make our moan — and silence gives no 
answer and yet. 

"A bruised reed will He not break." 

Remember His promise, " I am the Resurrection 
and the Life." is echoed by, 

"Because I live, ye shall live also." 

Be patient — in the Better Land, we will :( re- 
member and understand." 

Our sorrow is the storm : His promise is the bow 
that over-arches tears, shining on them till they 
form the circlet which enfolds the "ye shall I 
that includes not only those gone into Life, but we, 
who wait for the touch of the ' Quickening Spirit/ 

ten, 

" Christ shall change our vile body that it may 
ishioned like unto His glorious body" for, 

" He is able to save to the uttermost all that 
come unto God by Him." 

11 Lord ! how great is Thy goodness which 
Thou hast laid up in Heaven for those that fear 
Thee."— 

Goodness beyond our understanding; for 

" Behold I show you a great mystery, the dead 
shall be raised incorruptible": — for 

11 I know that our Redeemer liveth." 



GLEAMS OF IMMOR TALI T Y. 



41 



Redeemer — that is our pledge word — Redeemer 
" in whom we have redemption, " and so 

" As we have borne the image of the earthly we 
shall also bear the image of the Heavenly." 

Oh, let us strive out of our very grief to rise to 
a clearer realization of the union of the "seen and 
the unseen." 

Let us strive to realize the reunions of the 
Heavenly Horizon. 

For help in this we must think often of Christ— 
and in the light of His Resurrection learn how we 
also can live through death — and as we thus think, 
reunion with those whom He has called to the 
Heavenly Pasture, on the Hills of God, will blos- 
som out from our very night of weeping. 

Yes, — the truth that " Christ rose from the grave 
changed, and yet the same," is the pledge of, and 
type of rising for us, and our dearest. 

For, 

" If we have been planted together in the like- 
ness of His death we shall be also in the likeness of 
His Resurrection." — 

"Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith." 

There is great comfort in this — God grant we 
may not fail to find it. 



42 FOREGLEAMS. 

Verily in the Light of it we can say, 

" How pleasant are thy paths, O Death ! 
Like the bright slanting west, 
Thou leadest down into the glow 
Where all these heaven-bound sunsets go, 
Ever from toil to rest." 

Yes, our sorrow is only a little cloud that en- 
folds us for a brief time — beyond the sunset all is 
bright. 

It will not be long — though the way seems far — 
before we — as our dear ones have done — will cross 
the horizon line and be in Sun-rise. 



PART SECOND. 



Remember, 

" If we would become heavenly-minded, we must let the 
imagination realize the blessedness to which we are mov- 
ing on. — 

"Were the procuring of that Blessedness dependent on 
ourselves, then we might despond and despair. — 

" But Christ is the ' Receiver Up,' alike ' the Way, the 
Truth, the Life.' — 

" It is because His face was set to the Earthly Jerusalem, 
that the Heavenly has unbarred its Gates for us." 



I. 

PRELUDE. 

" Make search for ' that inmost centre where 
truth abides in fulness': and then learn that to 

Know : 

" Rather consists in opening out a way, 
Whence the imprisoned splendor may dart forth, 
Then in effecting entry for a light 
Supposed to be without." 

One year — only one brief year, and yet during it 
God has led me far, very far within the " valley of 
the shadow of death. " Surely there is a deep sig- 
nificance in such a guidance : surely there must be 
a heart of meaning in it, for never yet was there a 
shadow without light — never a valley without an 
upland. 

And in the valley of death, the Rod and the Staff, 
like light and shadow, go hand in hand. 

Thus you will always find, if you remember, it is 

Christ's Rod— Christ's Staff. 

(45) 



46 IK MEMORIAM. 

From this memory have you already a gleam 
of Light on the clouds of sorrow that encompass 
you ? 



Come then, and, led by His Rod and Staff- — sup- 
ported by them too — listen while I tell you of the 
Foregleams of the Beyond that God has sent into 

my valley of Shadows. Till verily — though often 

it has been with trembling faith, and tear-blinded 
eyes — He has helped me not only to say, — but to 

feel,— 

" Yea, though I walk through the valley of the 
shadow of death, I will fear no evil/' 

Why feel no fear? Because of the after-part 

of the verse, 

"For Thou art with me." 

His presence — that is our Staff, if we " only be- 
lieve." 

Yes, dear F , heart- stricken by grief, sorrow- 
burdened though you may be, there is comfort even 
for you. 

Do you ask, — How can I speak of comfort? — 

From my own heart I can not, but, thank God, 
there is One greater than our poor hearts. 

There is, I repeat, the felt Presence — the Com- 
forter — and hence the sureness of a life beyond. — 



IN MEMORIAM. 



47 



Life eternal, Love unchanging, and Re-union. — 
Ah ! in that sureness is consolation. 

Cling to Christ's promise, "I am with you." 

For if in humble submission to God's will you 
bow beneath His Rod, straightway you will be up- 
lifted by His Staff. 

And it is in that uplifting that you will find pre- 
cious Foregleams of the Hereafter. 

For it is in such hours that " the angels come to 
minister." 

But remember the conditions: — humble submis- 
sion — God's will, not yours ; — and then — think of 
the Hereafter ! — 

Ah ! think of the * afterward.' — No Foregleams 
then — no shadowy suggestions — but — Love, Light, 
Knowledge. 

"Satisfied" — that is the Bible word. What a 
Foregleam word ! 

And our beloved ones, they are There — ' Satisfied,' 
as we will be, when, like them, we " awake in His 
likeness." 

God grant us even now, a joyful, peaceful, firm 
hope of that Blessed Hereafter. 



II. 



" THEY will not return to us, but we shall go to 
them." 

1 Shall go.' — " Death like the angel in Peter's 
dungeon breaks the fetters of mortality, throws 
open the prison doors, and leads the spirit out to 
gladsome day. 

" Oh that we could ever view it as the exodus of 
life — the out-marching of the soul to the land of 
rest, and liberty and peace. " 

Shall go ! — Remember, dear F , all we wait 

for is the loosening of this anchor of a pulsing mor- 
tal heart, a breathing mortal life. 

Such a frail anchor to hold us here, and yet so 
strong. 

For the time of our departure from this world, 
like the time of our coming to it, are both held in 
the Hand of Him with whom are " the issues of 
life." 

Out of your grief — do you cry? — I have thus 
cried, — 

" O Lord ! loose the cable, let me go." 
(48) 



IN MEMORIAM. 



49 



Do not upbraid yourself if thus you moan — only 
— be willing to accept the answer the Lord sends, 
even if it be, 

" Yet a little longer hope and tarry on — 
Yet a little longer, weak and weary one ! 
More to perfect patience to grow in faith and love, 
More my strength and wisdom and faithfulness to prove ; 
Then the sailing orders the Captain will bestow : 
Loose the cable, let thee go ! " 

And as you accept this answer, recollect God 
does not ask you to call sorrow by any other 
name. 

Be true in your grief — if tears fall they are not 
signs of rebellion — " Jesus wept." 

And His tears are a pledge that we may weep. 

Thinking of Christ's tears, sometimes I wonder 
if those who bid us mourners cease to weep, do 
not mistake the why sorrow is sent : — do not well- 
nigh lose the lesson it holds. 

I would not be selfish in grief. — But — do tears 
imply selfishness ? 

I think not — for tears are sanctified — Christ 
wept. — Wept at a grave as you and I weep. 

" Weeping is no weakness ; it is only the overflow 
of strong love." 
4 



5o 



IN MEMORIAM. 



And amid your tears, if your soul is bowed with 
anguish, and you ask for light, and the light tar- 
ries — all is darkness — do not be afraid, God has not 
forsaken you — Jesus felt just what you now feel. — 
He knew the hiding of the Father's face. — And — 
'• the servant is not above His Master." 

All you have to do is to trust when you can not 
see. 

Remember, God — Our Father — has different 
ways of training His children for the Blessed Be- 
yond. 

If His way for you be a wilderness path, when 
you so wanted a flower-strewn way — it is the way 
He chooses. 

Ask Him then to open wide your soul, that His 
education may find entrance. 

And if the lesson be hard— why complain if its 
end be rest in the " Many Mansioned " Home? 

And it will be, if faithfully learned — for of the 
inhabitants of that Home it is written : 

" Who are these in bright array? 

" These are they who have known great tribula- 
tion." 

"' Knowest thou to whom the whitest robes are given— 
Who stand the nearest to His throne in Heaven ? 



IN MEMORIAM. 5 1 

These are they, from every land and nation, 

Who entered there thro' greatest tribulation. 

No longer murmur at thine earthly losses, 

Let smiles of joy break through thy tears of weeping ; 

The Father hath thee in His gracious keeping.' 

Soon Jesus' welcome summons thou shalt hear; 

* Rise, let us go hence ! ' then stay'd the falling tear, 

Low at His feet thy cross thou shalt lay down, 

And from His hand receive the eternal crown." 



Shall we with such an outlook faint because of 
sorrow ? 

It was Richter, I think, who said, " Sorrow draws 
toward noble minds as thunder-storms draw to- 
ward mountains — but the storms also break upon 
them : and they become the clearing-points in the 
skies for the plain beneath. 

" The burthen of suffering seems a tombstone 
hung around us : while in reality it is only the 
weight necessary to keep down the diver while he 
is collecting pearls. 

" It is only through suffering that we can be made 
perfect : and in hard struggles we acquire spiritual 
riches — and remember, the sufferings of the beauti- 
ful soul — the submissive soul — are May frosts which 
precede the brightness of summer and the riches 
of harvest." 



5 2 iN MEM OR I A M. 

Remember, too, in the dark trial hours our trio 
of comfort — God Loves, He Knows, He Pities ! 

Loves — let that Love be to you a ' Rock of Sal- 
vation/ — 

A shelter for you — even " in the nest in the 
Rock"— " the cleft of the Strong Rock." 

Knows in that knowledge is your safety. — 

"Trust in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jeho- 
vah is the ' Rock of Ages.' " 

" I stand upon a Rock," says Chrysostom ; " let 
the sea rage, the Rock can not be disturbed." 

" The steps of faith 
Fall on the seeming void, and find 
The Rock beneath." 

Pities. Ah ! what a Rock-cleft that, in which 

to hide. 

Pity — tenderness — " the shadow of a great Rock 
in a weary land." 

" Rock of Ages, cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in Thee." 

" Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I." 
And — ■" Who is a Rock save our God?" 

As an ' Amen ' to these Rock thoughts, dear 
F , I copy the old Greek hymn, that dates far 



IN MEMORIAM. 53 

back among the ages — even to the time of St. John 
Damascene. 

Do you remember it ? 

" On the Rock of Thy commandments 

Fix me firmly, lest I slide : 
With the glory of Thy Presence 

Cover me on every side : 
Seeing none save Thee is holy, 

God, forever glorified ! 

" New immortal out of mortal, 

New existence out of old : 
This the Cross of Christ accomplished, 

This the Prophets had foretold : 
So that we thus newly quickened 

Might attain the heavenly fold. 

" Thou Who comprehendest all things, 

Comprehended by the tomb, 
Gav'st Thy body to the grave-clothes, 

And the silence and the gloom : 
Till through fast-closed doors Thou earnest 

Thy Disciples to illume. 

" Every nail-print, every buffet, 

Thou didst freely undergo, 
As Thy Resurrection's witness 

To the Twelve Thou cam'st to show; 
So that what they saw in vision, 

Future years by faith might know." 



III. 



In my last I rambled far away from my begin- 
ing, dear F . 

One thought so opened out another, just as a 
hope is always the herald of another hope. 

For, thank God, there is never an end to hope. — 
" Now abideth ' Faith, Hope, Love/ " 

I am so glad of that abiding, with its promise of 
endless progress : — 

" From height to height ! " — 

Think of the Uplands of Heaven ! 

But straightway I am wandering again ; forgive 
me — and remember it is not a treatise I am writing 
— but only simple letters — like whispers from my 
heart to your heart. — 

In this I promised to tell you of my " Valley of 
the Shadow of Death," — and of the Heavenly Fore- 
gleams — like sunbeams in a dense woodland, — the 
God of Love let fall among the shadows. 

Have you ever entered a patch of woodland — 
some forest of century-old trees — and wondered 

(54) 



IN MEMORIAM. 



55 



how sun-rays could find entrance through the thick 
screen of tree-bough and leafage ? 

I have, — and as I wondered they have shone 
— those bright sunbeams — aslant my very path — 
just as beams from the Sun of Righteousness 
fall in tender illumining on hearts that are gloom- 
encompassed. — 

For — heavenly Love is like sunshine, it can en- 
ter where we see no place of entrance. 

But — do you tell me I approach too slowly the 
recounter of my experience in the Shadow Land ? — ■ 

Yes, — I know, — and yet — why shrink from lift- 
ing the veil of silence that enfolds my grief when 
it enfolds my comfort too ? 

For surely the mission of both our sorrow and 
our consolation is, that as we are helped, so we may 
help others. 

II Blessed be the God of all comfort, who com- 
forteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able 
to comfort those which are in any trouble, by the 
comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of 
God." 

" Comforted of God!" you — and I. Ponder 

that wonderful comfort, and remember, writes Rob- 
ertson : 



56 



IN MEMORIAM. 



"There is not a single throb in a single human 
bosom, that does not thrill with more than electric 
speed up to the heart of God. 

" You have not shed a tear, nor drawn a sigh, 
that did not come back to you exalted and purified 
by having passed through the eternal bosom. " — 

Truly in the Light of such comfort we know, 
even while we weep, why it is written, " Blessed are 

they that mourn, for'' that for, holds the answer 

to our why " for they shall be comforted. " 

And in the radiance of that " comforted of God," 
linked as it is to a blessing, it ought not to seem hard 
to put aside reserve, and tell of my Foregleams. 

Tell with the hope that they perchance may 
kindle Foregleams for you. 

The fullest, most blessed experience — radiant as 
it was with " Light from within the veil," is the one 
for which you ask. 

And yet, — How can I pass it on to you ? 



It was all so beautiful, — so all beyond words. 

On every shadow the smile of the Blessing of God, 
— that Peace which passeth understanding. 

Yes, — Peace, Victory — even Joy illumined that 
hushed room, till it was bright with comfort, not 
earth, but heaven-born. 



IN MEMORIAM. 



57 



And so — peace enfolded — love encompassed — 
victory triumphant — through Christ, it was all 
through Christ, we watched the mortal life glide 
into the immortal. 

Still, those days, even though thus faith-lighted, 
were " valley of the shadow of death " days. 

But to make their meaning clear, I must send 
you a chaplet of somewhat detailed letters which I 
call ' In Memoriam.' And this 'In Memoriam' 
will be, in outline, the narrative of the dear life, 
that was an interpreter of heavenly things from 
childhood's dawn — on to old age. 

For " there is no true life," — and my dear one's was 
a " true life," — " that does not reveal a purer, richer, 
and more blessed life visioned in its depths : seen 
like lovely grottos in the deep, radiant with light 
beneath a heaving and broken surface." 

" Now that image is the true being, the real im- 
press and out-going of spirit : and when mortality 
takes away the troubled setting of circumstances, 
that is the spiritual portrait which alone remains in 
our hearts/' 

" And thus in the highest sphere of divine intima- 
tion is the Unseen prefigured in the Seen : and 
those upon whom this spiritual stamp is strongest 



c; 3 FN MEMORIA J/. 

when they are with us, it is easy for us to conceive 
of as dwelling everlastingly in the peace of aspira- 
tion." 

Aspiration — the very truth of my darling's 
life — and it is because so strongly she revealed this 
spiritual stamp, that now, when she is parted from 
us — caught up into Heaven — heavenly Foregleams 
illumine the way — and where she went, like 

" Echoes that roll from soul to soul, 
And grow forever and forever." 



IV. 

YOUR list of queries has come, dear F . And 

before I begin the outline history of my darling's 
life, I will make a brief tarrying and hint a reply to 
your question, — 

" Can you send me a Heavenly Foregleam to 
meet such queries? 

" ' Enumerated they read : 

" * Do our dear ones in heaven think of us? ' 

" ' Do they love us still ? ' 

"*. How can they be happy if they know our sor- 
row and loneliness without them?' 

" ' Will not those now in Heaven so far advance in 
knowledge and holiness, that when we join them 
they will have lost the power of sympathizing with 
usr 

And you add, 

"When I go, how shall I recognize those who 
have gone long ago ? " 

These are all such natural questions, dear F . 

At the very first touch of sorrow they are wont 

(59) 



60 IN MEMORIAM. 

to come like eager supplicants, knocking at the 

door of our heart for answers. For this longing 

to know our dear ones are happy — is a demand of 
our nature ; and so is the great yearning to know 
that they continue to love us, for love asks return. 
— And in reply to your question, ' Do they think of, 
and love us still?' — remember — "if God Himself 
can love us, who that is of God will cease to love 

those whom Father and Son love?" 

We would, too, fain believe Christian Rossetti's 
words, — 

" Death may bring our friend exceeding near, 

He only can not utter yea or nay 
In any voice accustomed to our ear : 
He only can not make his face appear, 
And turn the sun back on our shadowed day. 
The dead may be around us, dear and dead : 
The unforgotten dearest dead may be 
Watching us, with unslumbering eyes and heart, 
Brimful of words which can not yet be said, 
Brimful of knowledge they may not impart, 
Brimful of love for you, and love for me." 

But w r e have a dearer surety of the continuing 
love and remembrance of those gone from us in 
our Saviour's own parable. 

Recall Luke xvi. 19, 31 — and surely if in tor- 



IN MEMORIAM, 6l 

ment they remember, — can we question the love 
and remembrance of those in joy — those with 
Christ ? 

Note — in this one Gospel chapter there are two 
testimonies that those in heaven know of those on 
earth. — Abraham knew that the men in the world 
had " Moses and the Prophets." 

In this connection ponder also, for I think you 
will find comfort in its out-growth, rather up-growth, 
of thought : " Moses and Elias who ministered to 
the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration, as well 
as the two prophets who had become angels, and 
who ministered unto John the Revelator, they had 
not ceased to feel a loving interest in the earth 
upon which they had lived/' 

And now — just a word of your fear, that our 
sainted ones will " so far outstep us in heavenly 
progress as to pass beyond the power of sym- 
pathy." 

In reply — I bid you think — " Do you not know 
that your deepest dependence on those you love 
best, as indeed your dependence too, upon God, 
rests not at all upon equality of knowledge, of wis- 
dom or of power! " 

But I will not glean proof answers to your que- 



6 2 ?N ME MORI AM. 

ries. — I will only linger to copy for you words I 
read yesterday : 

" It is not so much on the love that is felt for 
us, as on the love we are capable of feeling, that 
our spiritual rank or blessedness depends. What 
we may be to blessed spirits is a question that 
Christian simplicity will not be forward to ask : 
enough — if we can revere and reflect their good- 
ness — if we can but brighten in their light, and have 
so kept our own higher life that spirits of Love 
and spirits of Knowledge, will be able to quicken, 
purify, and exilt us to themselves." 

14 That they will be very gracious to us there is no 
fear, for of all such Jesus is the type, and His 
prayer is. * Father, I will that they whom Thou hast 
eiven Me, be with Me where I am.' ' 

11 And now ours still, for some brief time, is the war 
with evil. The sting of death is sin. Only a vic- 
tor}' of that evil power can separate us from those 
whose conflict is finished, whose peace is sealed." 

11 Hear the prayer of Christ that no temptation 
might detach the disciples from His spirit when He 
was no more with them ; and in it hear the prayer of 
all God's emancipated for those they leave behind : 

11 ' And now I am no more in the world, but these 



IN MEMORIAM. 



63 



are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father ! 
keep through Thine own Name those whom Thou 
hast given Me, that they may be one, as we are ! ' 

But to return to the special Foregleam God has 
granted me, and which we will approach reverently 
— not striving to lift the veil of mystery where it is 
left unlifted by Christ. 

Rather — let us, as we come to the sepulchre 

place, " bow our faces to the ground, " and thus 

— God grant we may find the " stone rolled away," 
that we may be able to look beyond the bound- 
aries of here — may by high communings be lifted 
up near — even to that divine sphere where is the 
reality of which earth is only the shadow. 



V. 

If you asked me to tell you the meaning of sum- 
mer and winter, spring and autumn, I know you 
would as gladly listen to autumn's story — so full of 
beauty and perfection — with its garnered harvests 
and ripened fruits, as if I gave the record of the 
spring — its buds and blossoms. — And so I know 
you will tenderly hearken while I tell you of the 
dear life, autumn's perfection typifies to me. 

That precious earthly life that in the autumn God 
called Home to Heaven. 

For it was nature's month of golden glory when 
my beloved one departed. 

Departed in Peace — as you know — and yet I re- 
peat, it was the valley of the shadow of death 
through which God led. 

But a valley leading Up all the way, till He took 
her. — And her own dear voice told this. — She 
was faint — she was very feeble — the flame of vital 
strength burned low — the candle had well-nigh gone 
out — the socket was well-nigh empty. 

" You are far down the valley now." 
(64) 



IN MEMORIAM. 



65 



Thus said one very dear to her as he noted the 
faint breathing — the feeble pulse-beat. 

It was then — with uplifted hand, that she made 
reply — in a voice clear as the upward soaring note 
of a carolling lark — but low as the ripple of a wave 
on sandy shore, — 

" No, Up the valley. ,, 

Yes — the way was all Up to her. No downward 
path — all Up till she passed from earth, up to 
Heaven. 

And now we will turn the backward pages of this 
dear life's story. — 

Even far back as the time of childhood and 
youth. — For hers was a rarely full life, with many a 
diversely moulding influence — and only as we trace 
its growth can we catch the sacred why of the 
Foregleams she left as a precious legacy to those 
who loved her best. — A legacy I now share with 
you. 

A full life, I said. As one who knew her well — 

wrote not long after God called her to Heaven : 
u Infinitely large and far-reaching were her love 
and sympathy. — And the reasons were not far to 
find ; not only was her nature a bountiful one, but 
her experience in this life had been a varied one. 
5 



66 IN MEMORIAM. 

She had known the world, though she was ' not of 
it ': she had known prosperity, and also reverse : 
she had experienced romance and reality ; youth 
and age : sickness and health, — all that could come 
to humanity had come to her." 

And yet through it all she kept a heart that 
even to old age — even within the * valley of the 
shadow of death ' — w r as sweet and fresh as a flower 
— fresh with that true child-likeness of which Christ 
taught when " He called a little child, and set him 
in the midst " — and said : 

" Verily, except ye be converted and become as 
little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom 
of Heaven." 

The kingdom, my darling has entered now. 

The kingdom that entered her soul — " the king- 
dom of Heaven is within you " — even while she 
was a sojourner here on earth. — Hence the Fore- 
gleams she left. 

For, 

"God's saints are shining lights: who stays 
Here long must passe 
O'er dark hills, swift streams, and steep ways 
As smooth as glasse : 
But these all night, 
Like candles, shed 
Their beams and licrht." 



IN MEMORIAM. 



" Death is but life passed on : the sure progression 
Bears in its sweep, life to a higher sphere." 



I. 

IN MEMORIAM. 

" Heaven doth with us as we with torches do, 
Not light them for themselves : for if our virtues 
Did not go forth of us, 'twere all alike 
As if we had them not." 

" HEAVEN lies about us in our infancy." 

She was an officer's daughter. An English-born 
child. 

Years began to count for her — according to our 
earthly reckoning of years — from August, 1809, till 
they numbered four more than life's allotted three- 
score and ten. 

Even from babyhood her dear heart was like a 
song of love. Always she was tender and pitiful 
of sorrow: always thoughtful of the needs of the 
needy. 

Truly God was very bountiful in natural gifts to 
this precious one. And later on, when grace hal- 
lowed His gifts, do you wonder that she revealed 

Foregleams — even Heavenly Foregleams? 

(69) 



7o 



IN MEMORIAM. 



Of her childhood there are still sweet memories 
that shine out like stars amid the darkness of the 
forgotten — or rather silent years. 

A verbal picture I recall that portrays this rosy- 
cheeked English child, whose eyes were blue — blue 
as the sky — standing on tip-toe, to let fall from her 
dimpled hand the treasure of shining half-crown, 
or silver sixpenny-bit, into the little box with its 
mute appeal — " Remember the poor prisoner." 
She passed the place almost daily in her morning 
walk with prim, somewhat stern nurse Wright — 
who more than once frowned on the child's desire 
to give to the needy. 

A questionable need too, nurse was wont to 
think, for those were the days of imprisonment for 
debt. — And had honest folk a right to run in 
debt? 

Wiser heads than nurse Wright's have pondered 
the same question. 

But the child gave with no questioning — it was 
part of her birth-right to recognize : — 

" It is more blessed to give than to receive. ,, 

Those were days, too, when England was all astir 
with "war, and the rumor of war." 

And that stern nurse, for lullaby, many a night 



IN MEMORIAM. 



71 



bade the sensitive child close her eyes and straight- 
way sleep, for if ' Old Bony ' came he would carry 
away all the wide-awake children. 

And s Old Bony ' was none other than the great 
Bonaparte, whose exploits were filling the minds 
of the nation. 

But even then — so manifest, all through this dear 
one's life, was the blessed truth, God never forgets 
His own — there was another lullaby besides nurse 
Wright's, that had already begun to kindle a Fore- 
gleam of the trust in God, which illumined her 
after-life, on, to Heaven's Entrance-gate. — 

There was a dear old grandmother. A stately 
English dame, with high-crowned cap and costume 
of a long by-gone age, as she looks from the por- 
trait that hangs on my wall. And this dear grand- 
mother taught, " Good children are never afraid in 
the dark." 

And the child's tender soul accepted this simple 
truth as a strong refuge from the suggested fear. 

Only suggested — for by nature she was too pure, 
sweet, and courageous to really harbor fear. 

Then came days, when her young heart was 
stirred by love and admiration of her earthly 
father. 



72 



IN MEMORIAM. 



An emotion that, like all our highest, best emo- 
tions, always has an upward-reaching side. 

Thus from love for the earthly parent, she 
caught, while still a child, beautiful gleams of the 
Love of the Heavenly Fathcr> 

And what the human lacked, the Heavenly filled, 
and Fatherhood meant for her, 

" O soul, O soul, rejoice ! 
Thou art God's child indeed." 

And she did rejoice. — Joy was a reflection of her 
true self all through life. 

She was always happy — always cheerful ! So 
marked was this, that the man of God who stood 
by her dear form, after the silence had fallen, num- 
bered in among other attributes, like a rose among 
lilies and violets — " happy." 

To return for a moment to her interpretation of 
a Father. 

I repeat, if the earthly did not reach her high 
ideal, it was ever her way to up-lift all the earth- 
bound relations of life. 

This was a part of her marked individuality even 
in youth, and as years increased it grew, till some 



IN MEMORIAM. 



73 



might have mistaken the kindly manner, the pleas- 
ant word, and cordial greeting for all with whom 
she came in contact, whether rich or poor, learned 
or unlearned, socially courted or socially scorned, 
and have called her a leveler, ready to banish all 
class distinctions. 

But none ever trespassed to approach with un- 
due familiarity the reserve of her self-hood : none 
ever took advantage of this universal kindliness, 
the recognition of the brotherhood of humanity. — 

A Foregleam of the " one in Christ/' that rules 
Up There where she is now. 

And I think none who came within her influence 
would hesitate in saying: — ' If she was a leveler it 
was always a leveler Up ! ' 

Upward — her whole life exemplified it — Upward 
ever — though sometimes it was ' up-hill ! ' 

" Say to me " — thus she once asked when the day 
had been full of bodily pain, the night of wakeful- 
ness — " Say to me the lines, up-hill." And softly 

a voice responded : 

" Does the road wind up-hill all the way ? 
Yes, to the very end. 
Will the day's journey take the whole long day ? 

From morn till night, my friend. 
But is there for the night a resting-place ? 



74 ^V MEMORIAM. 

A roof for me when the slow, dark hours begin ? 
May not the darkness hide it from my face ? 

You can not miss that inn. 
Shall I meet other wayfarers at night ? 

Those who have gone before. 
Then must I knock, or call when just in sight ? 

They will not keep you standing at the door. 
Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak ? 

Of labor you shall find the sum. 
Will there be beds for me and all who seek ? 

Yea, beds for all who come." 

Ah ! the smile with which she repeated these 

last w r ords — " Yea, beds for all who come." 

" There remaineth a Rest for the people of God " — 
that w T as what her smile said. — And — the smile 
opened a wide in-look into the Heavenly Rest. 

I said her influence was all Upward tending, and 
truly recalling it, I feel as though it were a life well 
typified by Jacob's angel-ladder, for as her influence 
tended Up, blessings from it came down. 

Yes, she lived to bless — as one who has known 
deep sorrow writes : " She came to me in my an- 
guish. — And she said not a word — but with one 
hand she pointed Up — while with the other she 
took my lonely hands — ' widowed forever of one 
dear touch,' and held them safe and warm in hei 
dear, tender hand-clasp." 



IN MEMORIAM. 75 

But I have wandered far from the story of her 
child-life. 

We left her just learning the meaning of Father- 
hood : left her when her heart was all aglow as she 
watched the triumphal processions, and overtures 
of joy that celebrated for England's heroes, victory 
sealed on the field of Waterloo. 

Processions in which her father's commanding 
figure, mounted on his jet-black charger l Old 
Adam ' — a veritable war-horse — made to the child 
the glory of the day. 

Brightest of all those memory-pictures that were 
vivid to old age — stood out clearest when she de- 
scribed them — the memorable 18th of July — the 
' Peace Jubilee/ — In that part of England — which 
then meant the world to her — her father was mar- 
shal of the day. 

And in honor of the occasion he wore his treas- 
ured gold-wrought and mounted sword and belt. 
The sword, a rare specimen of " Damaskeening," 
covered with meandering lines like water-marks — 
and presenting all over a varying sheen, blue, red, 
and golden. — A distinctly noble sword-blade, for 
the lines were so contorted and broken, they formed 
a network of little threads, and reflected the deep, 



y6 IN MEMORTAM. 

dark bronze and true golden gloss which proved the 
work a master-piece, worthy to have been made at 
Damascus. 

He wore, too, pistols which were as worthy as 
the sword of notice. — These were the gift of the 
Duke of York, in token of honorable service. 

As for ' Old Adam/ he was graced by a saddle- 
cloth trimmed with gold thread on rich-hued pur- 
ple velvet. 

No wonder the child's heart thrilled with ex- 
ultant glory in her father. 

A glory mingled with romance, for it was all like 
a page from some wondrous fairy tale, to a mind 
like hers that was full of imagery as a meadow in 
June is full of daisies. 

But the saddle-cloth, and its story, was like a 
page of history. — For it had been given her father 
as a trophy, taken from a led horse belonging to 
one of Bonaparte's marshals. 

Verily, what a story it held in suggestion ! 

The marshalling that day was before " His Royal 
Highness, the Prince Regent, the Emperor of Rus- 
sia, the King of Prussia, and other distinguished 
characters by whose efforts (this is all as the old 
proclamation reads), under the assistance of Provi 



IN MEMORIAM. 



77 



dence, Peace had been most happily restored to 
afflicted England."- 

It was then, and there, though all unconsciously 
at the time — that the child — scarce more than five 
years of age — received her first impression of what 
spiritual warfare meant. 

The warfare of which Paul wrote, — " Put on the 
whole armor of God, the breastplate of righteous- 
ness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, 
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word 
of God." 

The Word — that was her life-guide. 

Other influences also combined to make real for 
her in childhood, and on to old age, all the Bible 
metaphors that picture the Christian as a soldier 
of the cross, one who is waging a soul's warfare. — 
Shielded by that spiritual armor, of which the ma- 
terial is an emblem. 

Chief among these influences was the fact that 
during those years a favorite uncle was warden of 
the Tower. 

And the child was wont to accompany her 
mother on semi-annual trips to London, which 
always included a visit to this uncle, and hence to 
the Tower. 



78 



IN ME MORI AM. 



These visits left a life-lasting impression on her 

mind and heart. And no wonder. For how 

could they help being full to her, of lessons for 
here and Hereafter? 

Dull indeed must he be, who can view that old, 
irregular pile of buildings on the north bank of the 
Thames, without a kindling of earnest feeling. — 
And this child was as full of earnestness as a bird 
is of song. 

A quiet hush was wont to fall on her usually 
gay spirit, thus I have been told, when she entered 
that place, once a Palace ! — once a Prison ! 

A place voiceful with the thrilling and the tragic 
deeds that clustered there, as thickly as the close- 
growing ivy clings to its massive sombre walls. 

And pondering these sad, sad records of the 
past, these .almost life-full associations, the child's 
spirit held communion with the by-gone, which 
led on to the Beyond. 

The ' Old Armory ' was her most frequent 
haunt. 

There she dreamed those wide-awake dreams, 
that make the reality of so many life-hours to us 
all — as well they may. 

For are not those dreams the Unseen smiling 



IN MEMORIAM. 



79 



on the Seen ? — Smiling even though it be out of 
tears. 

Thus the hours she spent in gazing on the figures 
of those knights of the olden time, in their coats of 
mail, and with the rank, name, and date of each 
separate knight, inscribed on the banner that signi- 
fied their identity — came to hold a powerful sway- 
in this English-born maiden's mind. 

So powerful, a true knight was to her a warrior, 
whose " Glory of Virtue, was to fight, to struggle, 
to right the wrong." 

And the Banner with its four descriptive index 
words, became an emblem of the " Red Cross Ban- 
ner," traced with her heart's desire, 

" Upward ever, Heaven's above." 



II. 



Only a few years after that triumphant " Peace 
Jubilee " came a time when very different emotions 
stirred the child's heart. 

For the gay sash — and bright-tinted ribbons 
that bowed her broad-brimmed hat, and dainty 
pelisse, were suddenly exchanged for sombre black. 

A nation mourned. At every fire-side, all Eng- 
land's Isle over, there was sorrowing. 

The young Princess Charlotte lay dead. — Hopes 
of one hour, had become tears for the next. And 
this child of whom I tell had come to the question 
—"What is death?" 

Thank God it was the loving grandmother who 
made reply — " Death is going to Heaven to live 
with God and the holy angels." 

But she answered : u I thought God was every- 
where, — near me all the time. — Why do people 
need to go away to be with God ? " 

Simple was the response, nevertheless it filled 

the question with a reply that lasted all her life 

long. 

(80) 



IN MEMORIAM. gl 

" Why — because God loves them so much, He 
takes them quite up into Heaven, His own Home." 

So Heaven came to mean Home. 

And thus even in childhood she caught an echo 
of the angels' Jubilate over every soul that passes 
Up into glory. 

Hence the kindling of another of the Fore- 
gleams she left — though not till she knew of Christ 
and His redeeming Love did she catch the full 
radiance of His " promise of promises,'' — 

" I am the Resurrection and the Life." 

And now only one more halt among those days 
of childhood before we glide on to my darling's 
maidenhood. 

A time when she still continued encompassed by 

the " trailing clouds of glory from God who is 

our Home." Clouds of glory that shine with our 
Foregleams ! 

It is only a brief halt — like the tracing of a flow- 
er's outline, — of what nature meant to her, that I 
linger to gather. 

Nature ! the tender teacher of all pure, sweet 
souls — and hers was a sweet soul — so no wonder 
nature was to her a friend, speaking with a thou- 
sand voices, and every voice a whisper from God. 



82 IN MEMORIAM. 

Her birthplace was Thetford, in the county of 
Norfolk — and her earliest recollections were asso- 
ciated with that old town, through which flows, 
like a dividing line, the waters of the Lesser Ouse 
— a clear, bright stream. 

I do not think I let imagination trespass on 
reality when I say, to the child, that rivulet flow- 
ing so quietly, till it reached the fall — was a real 
type of the "still waters." 

And her dear mind during the latter months of 
her earthly life so returned to the scenes linked 
with childhood and youth, I fain believe it was 
some sweet early memory of that sun-kissed, on- 
flowing stream, that led her, when asked to leave a 
message for a dear friend, to reply : 

" Tell him of the still waters — and the green pas- 
tures/' 

For at the word "water" she smiled, a smile 
that always meant the linking of a memory-picture 
to an Upward on-look. 

I believe, too, the old trees that grow back from 
that river's bank were to her emblem-trees of that 
" Tree that grows in the midst of the Paradise of 
God." 

For when she became old enough to read its par- 



IN MEMORIAM. 83 

able, all nature was emblematic and full of 

sacred meaning to her. 

As for the country around that early home it 
was replete with life-lasting impressions. 

She never lost the sense of awe mingled with 
eager desire for more knowledge than history fur- 
nished as to the ancient " Castle Mounds" that 
abound in that region. — Often have I heard her 
tell, in vivid, picture-like language, of the most inter- 
esting of them all — " Mount or Castle Hill," where 
the earthworks were chalk — the native soil — and 
probably the highest in England. 

To those who as children gathered around this 
dear one to hearken to her stories of " early days," 
the name Thetford will revive a memory that I 
must record, for simple though it be — still it is 
an index to her true and humble spirit. 

For it shows how she never exalted herself ; how 
when she had done wrong, she never strove to con- 
ceal it. 

In recounting these " story-like bits " that were 
"all true," she ever tried to link them with a moral. 

Yet so richly God had bestowed on her the gra- 
cious gift of tact, she never forced those morals 
but she impressed them. 



84 IN MEMORIAM. 

This Thet ford-memory of her wandering from 
the right — holds the picture of a mid-summer day. 
— And a child heated and flushed, speeding along 
the river-path, making no pause to note the beauty 
of water, tree, or landscape — though she loved all 
full well. 

But she was a truant that day. No time — no 
heart had she for nature's sweet lessons. 

Away, away, from the safe shelter of the home- 
garden, through the open gate she sped — on to. the 
river-path, with its picturesque over-hanging alder- 
bushes which served as a screen for her tiny figure. 
— On and on toward her goal — the estate of Can- 
ons — so named from a house of Canons of the 
Holy Sepulchre, formerly located on the spot that 
now is famous for warrens of silver-gray rab- 
bits. 

And it was the rabbits that the child was as 
eager to see as Eve was to taste the apple. 

Why? Was it because both were forbid- 
den? 

Forbidden ! it is so often the secret of why we 
want ! 

But I will not detail the story — enough, when 
twilight was waning she was found — a rosy cherub 



IN MEMORIAM. 



85 



asleep — in a quiet nook, with the river flowing by 
— and the blue sky looking down. 

The joy over the finding of the little runaway : 
the grief she had caused all that live-long day: the 
anxious search and agony of apprehension her will- 
ful wandering had given, never left her dear 
mind. And it proved not only to her, but to one 
at least of the seven children of her flock — the in- 
terpreting text of the full meaning of the parable 
of the prodigal son — and the joy over the wan- 
derer's return. 

A text that made clearer, too, " the joy in heaven 
over one sinner that repenteth." 

For she was with that wise, tender grandmother 
then. And when she was sorry — oh, so sorry for 
her straying — there was a joyful acceptance and 
recognition of that repentance. 

Thus the fact of a child's wandering became 
another link in her life, binding earthly deeds to 
heavenly Foregleams. 

For all that makes " forgiveness " real to us is a 
heavenly Foregleam of the full forgiveness of Him, 
by whose redemptive Love, we penitents on earth 
are yet heirs of Heaven. 

So precious are these early memories, I could 
linger long among them — but you will weary. 



86 IN MEMORIAM. 

And yet, as in Murray's u Hand-Book ,, for trav- 
ellers, I find " From Thetford to Bury St. 
Edmund's/' so in my record of her life — as years 
travelled on — we pass from the old town to the 
" bright little village of Bury St. Edmund's," as 
Dickens calls it. 

A brightness and cheerfulness so remarkable we 
find it mentioned early as the sixteenth century — 
" Bury — the sun hath not shone on a town more 
delightfully situated/' 

A pleasant place from which to know impres- 
sions emanated, as they did many and many — and 
among them there is a tender significance in the 
recorded : " Bury, with its homes looking toward 
the rising sun." 

This significance runs like a silvery thread 

woven in with the dawning of thought in her soul 

. — on — to that beloved soul's beautiful quickening 

of thought as earthly days grew few — heavenly 

days near. 

For — was it because in childhood she looked 
toward the East, that when the time came for her 
to pass beyond the boundary of this world — she 
wanted her dear face turned toward the place oi 
sun-rising? 



IN MEMORIAM. 87 

Was this why she loved so well Ezekiel's men- 
tion of the "gate of the inner-court that looked 

toward the East " ? And— " the glory of the 

Lord " coming " from the way of the East " ? 

I think it was. 

On the hill-slope where most of the Bury homes 
are built, there still remains a long and massive 
range of monastic ruins. 

It is hard for us New England dwellers to catch 
the breath of romance that pervades this old Eng- 
land town as completely as sea-waves encircle a 
mid-ocean island. 

But the English child held in well-nigh sacred 
reverence the story of St. Edmund. 

It was all real to her, even though fragmentary 
and legendary in detail, like the other stories that 
portrayed the royal pilgrims, who from time to 
time sought the shrine of the Saint. 

Foremost of all these traditional annals was that 
of Edward the Confessor, walking barefoot into 
town — walking over the very same path her young 
feet trod. 

But we must not tarry, for even though rich in 
memories, and full of beauty are the remains of 



88 IN MEMORIAM. 

Monastery Gate — and churches, St. James* and 
St. Mary's — our interest centres round the old 
ruins on the " edge of the hill," where they formed 
boundary lines — and in some places were enclosed 
in the grounds belonging to those Eastward-looking 
homes. 

It was thus in the garden where she played and 
dreamed. 

Yet spite the wonder-land of romance and history 
they suggested, the chief interpreters of those whis- 
pers, that were like echoes of angels songs to this 
child, came through flowers. And she wandered 
free as the air among the flower-bordered paths of 
the old garden. 

We all know, if not by memory, by tradition, 
something of the wealth of blossom and fragrance 
of the old-time English garden — " a wilderness of 
sweets " — a lesson-book full of meanings. 

So full to our dear learner ! and she was very 
young, too, when she began to read the garden's 
parable with its beautiful teaching of constant 
progress Upward. 

A lesson more precious to a life pilgrim than 
any mere book-taught knowledge — for a the object 
of life is to grow, and plants always mount upward 



IN MEMORIAM. 



8 9 



and never stop growing till they have attained the 

height the author of nature prescribed. " 

And plants are called types of Christians. 

Not till childhood had gone did she recognize in 

its full beauty of meaning that a Christian must 

ever be growing Upward. 

" Grow in grace " — that is the command. 

" Sparks fly upward toward their fount of fire, 
Kindling, flashing, hovering. 



Kindle, flash, my soul ; mount higher and higher." 

This was the lesson of Upward growth the gar- 
den taught her — and she learned it so well, that as 
life went on her dear heart was lifted Up above 
the world. 

Yes, truly she lived up to the requirements of 
the apostle — till now she is raised Up — and " made 
to sit in Heavenly Places in Christ Jesus." 



III. 

To portray the experience of maidenhood al- 
ways seems to require the brush of an artist, or the 
pen of a poet. 

For how tell in prose words the story of life's 
dream-time? The time that is wont to be beauti- 
ful as an idyl. 

When my darling came to the place where the 
years of her earthly life well-nigh counted twice 
seven, — I know from what has been told me, it 
might truly have been said, to her — 

" The earth, and every common sight 
.... did seem .... 
Apparelled in celestial light." 

It was then, that what had been deemed a linger- 
ing cold seemed to assume the heralding cough pref- 
acing a quick decline. 

And for change of climate she was sent from her 
native sea-encompassed isle, to sunny France. — 

There to complete, as the set phrase reads, " her 

education. " — That something that never will be 
(90) 



IN MEMORIAM. gi 

completed either here or in Heaven, for surely there 
is no limit to progress, — no end to the song of re- 
demption ! — 

Think for a minute of that song, and of how our 
dear ones who have gone to the Upper Home, are 
learning now, every day and every hour, some new 
strain in the Heavenly Anthem. 

Such a beautiful lesson for them but for 

us here the time of waiting to join them — oh, it 

seems so long long — because we wait. 

But for them, verily I believe, they will hardly 
know they have waked in Heaven before we will be 
with them learning the song too, and then, for us, 
as for them now, all tears will be wiped away. Ah, 
think of that meeting ! — 

Sometimes we catch a faint hint of it as we make 
one of some great gathering of long separated 
friends. 

Think, too, of how the music that will thrill the 
Heavenly concourse of redeemed souls, will make 
hearts beat as no orchestra of earth ever could — 
for it will be the ' New Song* — the Song of Re- 
demption. 

But to return to our narrative in outline. 



9 2 



IN MEMORIAM. 



There was another reason than health why her 
parents decided to send their only daughter to a 
foreign land. 

In the rank of life in which her life began, and in 
accordance with the custom of the time, betrothal 
was more an arrangement of parents' pleasure, than 
a child's preference. 

And the romance of life began early for this 
English maiden, whose parents decreed that she 
must be fitted by every advantage of education to 
adorn the high position, — as the world of society 
counts position, — which would be secured for her 
by marriage with the first-born son of a family of 
high, though untitled, rank, to whom they had 
betrothed her. 

Even at that early age she knew, though she 
hardly comprehended the knowledge, that the tall, 
fair-haired, ruddy-faced Saxon youth who slipped 
on her finger a golden circlet, gemmed with sap- 
phires, deep-toned in color — clear-hearted stones of 
sentiment as well as of intrinsic value — was to be 
in the future a nearer and dearer friend than any of 
the merry lads her girl companions called cousins 
and brothers. 

She knew too, in this undefined way, that the 



IN MEMORIAM. 93 

stately mansion, whose turrets she could see from 
her window, was some day to mean home to her. — 

But her soul was so simple and healthful by na- 
ture — even before grace had perfected it — this 
knowledge wakened no sickly sentimentality — fos- 
tered no false estimate of the true worth of life. 

This in later years she was wont to acknowledge 
as truly a gift from the Lord — for those days she 
had little other help, she was surrounded by much 
which tended to magnify the world and the things 
of the world. 

She had been for several years quite removed 
from the good grandmother's upward-leading influ- 
ences. — But Upward still held sway in her soul. 

Not that she was perfect. No, she was quick of 
temper, wilful and determined ; goodness cost her 
many a hard struggle, — as it does all strong, earnest 
natures. 

Often she uttered a hasty word, did a hasty deed ; 
but spite this, in her dear heart aspiration ever dwelt, 
even though sometimes it might be a caged bird. 

Ever upward progress was the rule of her de- 
sires. — Not only the sense of achievement — she went 
deeper than that — being always meant to her more 
than doing. 



94 



IN MEMORIAM. 



" We must be something in order to do something ; 
but we must also do something in order to be some- 
thing/' may well be called her motto. — 

To grow in soul, higher, deeper, richer — as years 
came and went — this was what she strove after, and 
she knew it could only be through conquering diffi- 
culties, only through acceptance of the " axe laid at 
the root " of self-will, and superficial self-knowledge — 
and she bowed to the discipline — so truth, descend- 
ing into her heart and mind became life ascending. 

Recalling her childhood and youth, many a time 
have I heard her say : 

"Goodness and mercy have followed me all the 
days of my life." — 

She so ever felt whatever she attained, whether 
it came through sorrow or joy, was God's gift. — 

And scarcely ever did she thus say without add- 
ing: 

" For verily, every event has been a link in the 
chain. " — 

And by the chain she meant, the experiences 
that began away back in early childhood, and 
reached on to old age. 

That wonderful chain that binds the mortal to 
the immortal — the soul to God, from life's first 



IN MEMORIAM. 95 

dawning hour here, to its setting — and thus on, tc 
its rising There. 

It is just because those links — those experiences 
— helped develop and make her what she was — a 
giver of broad inlooks into the Beyond — that they 
serve as unfoldings for us of the Foregleams she 
left. 

For they are like some key, that unlocks a casket 
of treasures that hold, each one, some suggestive 
glimpse of the glory from that Holy City — with its 
twelve foundation-stones of beauty. 

Glimpses of Heavenly radiance that gleamed 
down " when the curtain opened " for my beloved 
to " pass through. " 

Through — yes, through the Door of the sheep, 
her Saviour, and our Saviour, she glided into spring- 
like brightness from out the autumn twilight when 
she left us. 

Glided into eternal spring. — And, we who sorrow 
will go There too ; only be patient. — 

" Rest comes at length, though life be long and dreary, 
The day must dawn, and darksome night be past ; 
All journeys end in welcome to the weary, 
And heaven, the heart's true home, will come at last." 



IV. 



INTERESTING as the pages of a story-book is the 
record of my dear one's school-girl years in Paris.— 

But I must only note the clearest, most defined 
headlands of influence. 

Points which stand out as snow-capped peaks in 
a mountain range. 

The first year was passed in the strict discipline 
of a Convent-school, where no word of English ever 
greeted the child from the Island beyond the waters 
of the channel. 

Every experience was strange to her, and many 
an hour her young heart cried out with a homesick 
longing to fly away, away. 

And yet, the mystery and awe in worship and 
form straightway took a strong hold on her im- 
aginative mind. — The voices of the nuns in low 
choral chant ; the breath of the waving incense ; 
the white robed novices — vowed from babyhood to 
the Virgin Mother — the old Priest who gently 
urged, never compelled her to enter the confessional 

stall ; the quiet sisters with their soft tread, sombre 
(96) 






IN MEMORIAM. 



97 



robes, and faces where dwelt a holy calm, all meant 
much to her. 

And she never lightly regarded the spiritual les- 
sons she there learned. 

Lessons that were of more practical use, when 
years came full of discipline and reverse, than all 
the Italian verse, music, and high culture in litera- 
ture and art. 

For it was one of the " sisters,'' who taught the 
high-spirited girl, that submission is the corner- 
stone of peace. 

So well she learned this, all through her life she 
never complained ; she bravely accepted as God's 
will the changes that came to her. 

She submitted too, not only to the great trials, 
but to trifling annoyances and inconveniences, with 
cheerfulness. 

As one who only knew her after age had silvered 
the brown hair, — age that never dimmed her blue 
eyes — said to me but yesterday : 

" Always, no matter what happened, she seemed 
to have a smile in her heart." 

And she did the smile of God. 

Another lesson gentle " Sister Agnes " impressed 
on her young mind, was the " nun's maxim," — 
7 



^8 IN MEMORIAM. 

"There is no greater humility than to accept the 
limits God prescribes, and to make our works 
within those limits great works." 

In after years this knowledge was one of the 
chief secrets of her influence ; she never regarded 
anything as too insignificant to be worth doing 
thoroughly. 

And now we come to a time when I take up 
" the little red book " in which her own dear hand 
records : 

" It was so ordered by an over-ruling Providence, 
that later I was placed in a Protestant school, and 
under the same roof of the Hotel de Montmo- 
renci, with the then only dissenting minister in 
Paris — Rev. Mark Wilks — whose limited congre- 
gation worshipped in one of the Cupolas of the 
Oratoire." 

And — then, and there, began a truer romance 
for this English maiden, than any her parents could 
arrange for her. 

But no one ever yet caught the secret of the why 
of love — and I will not try. 

Love that blossoms in the heart like flowers by 
the road-side, with apparently no hand to plant 
them ; no gardener to watch and tend them. 



IN MEMORIAM. g g 

And yet, why call that a secret which is so open ? 
for surely God wakens the love, just as God plants 
the flowers. 

In my darling's heart it was so a true, beautiful, 
holy love, none could question God gave it, even 
though it caused much pain, and the disappoint- 
ment of many a fond hope and ambition to her 
parents. 

Much pain even to herself — for after a brief 
time of brilliant life, while still in early woman- 
hood, reverse and care took the place of affluence 
and luxury. 

The tender guardianship of the strong husband 
of her youth, was speedily followed by years of 
lonely widowhood. 

But there is much of joy to record before we 
come to the sorrowful. — And surely, joy holds Fore- 
gleams — even as joy holds discipline. — Yet the 
lines are true,— 

" Tis sorrow builds the shining ladder up, 
Whose golden rounds are our calamities, 
Whereon our firm feet planting, nearer God 
The spirit climbs, and hath its eyes unsealed." 



Gladly would I lengthen these records that 
have to do with the blossom-time of my dear one's 
May of life. 

But June will not wait. — And yet there are 
details of the dawning and ripening of her love for 
the dark-eyed stranger from across the sea, and of 
his love for her that held life-lasting influences 
opening Up to Heaven. 

There are details, too, that were of deep signifi- 
cance all the days of her life, connected with the 
hard-won consent of father and mother to her mar- 
riage with an American. 

But consent was at last granted, and the wed- 
ding-day came. 

In her own " little red book " I find recorded: 

" I was presented before the altar of B 

Church, by my father, and there, according to the 
solemn ceremony of matrimony, pledged my heart 
and hand to him who was henceforth to be their 
sole possessor." 

(IOO) 






IN MEMORIAM. IO I 

Wife once — wife always, it meant to her. 

Do you ask, how then did she explain the verse : 
" In heaven they neither marry nor are given in 
marriage"? Its sequel — "but are as the angels of 
God," is one answer. 

But you want a fuller reply? Marriage was to 
her the sacred type of true love — the cementing 
of hearts. — And hearts once truly united in love 
she believed were united forever. 

For true love is holy, and Heaven-born, and 
Heaven-like, and thus endless. 

No once did she recognize as belonging to it, un- 
der whatever form it exists in this world's nomen- 
clature. 

Endless, I repeat, because to be true and holy it 
must be love in Christ. Yes, thank God, " hearts 
are linked to hearts by God — a friend — God's own 
gift!" 

Just here — though it will necessitate a long in- 
terlude in her life's story — I will strive to answer, 
through the light her dear life gives, the question, 

" Shall we know our friends after death ? " 

I do not think she ever doubted future recogni- 
tion, and the Foregleam we have of that hereafter- 
knowledge she would have expressed in much the 



102 IN MEMORIAM. 

same language as the extract I copy from a well- 
known writer on Heavenly themes. 

u Shall we know our friends after death ? " — 
That is your query. — And mine is — " How do we 
know them here? " 

Edmund Sears makes answer — " We know them 
since their peculiar qualities of mind and affection 
are imaged in the features, and expressed and toned 
in the living form — made effusive of the soul 
within. — But all this is more completely true of 
the spiritual man, since the spiritual body is more 
quickly and perfectly the exponent of the soul, and 
hence it will result that we shall know those we 
have loved even better than we know them here." 

" For when thought meets thought, and heart 
opens to heart, it will be the fond gaze of the old 
familiar face : — faces that have not changed except 
to be made more familiar, since more than ever 
they are living transparencies through which we 
look into hearts that have beat in union with our 
own." 

The doctrine of recognition is once formally 
stated in the New Testament, and always implied 
— read I Thess. iv. 13-14. 

Surely then it is not unscriptural for us to feel. 



IN MEMORIAM. 



IO3 



" Death removes the mask of time and age, that 
the undecaying affections may take on the face and 
features that belong to them in the fulness of their 
immortal prime." 

Yes, we shall recognize our friends ; this mortal 
shall put on immortality, this corruptible incor- 
ruption. " Thanks be to God which giveth us the 
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. " 

Take the comfort of this glad hope into your 

sorrowing, lonely heart, dear F , and let it fall 

as moonbeams on a summer night in a pathway of 
golden shining light across the sullen waters of 
the dark river — we call death. 

Only call, for there is no death in going from 
earth to heaven, from age to eternal youth, from 
mortality to immortality — going from this strait- 
ened, sin-girt earth-life into the full, beautiful life of 
the Upper Heaven : and our precious ones are 
there now ; where they 

" Walk in soft, white light, .... 
.... they summer high in bliss upon the hills of God/' 

Ah! no, there is no death for those who go — 
the dying is for us who stay ! 

And now I resume the journal extracts. — Her 



104 ^ ME MORI AM, 

wedding day was in mid-winter, but she writes : 
"The sky was cloudless, and to me it seemed to 
hail our union with delight, and to exhibit em- 
blems of future happiness. 

" The dear scenes which I have known from child- 
hood " — she was married from the country home of 
a beloved aunt, who held the place of a spiritual 
mother to her — " never seemed so peaceful and 
beautiful to me as they did on leaving the ivy- 
covered church/' 

Then follows a bright word-picture of the friends 
assembled to wish the fair young bride " God 
speed." A quaint bit of description, vivid as 
though penned but yesterday, and yet — the faded 
ink — the yellow, time-stained paper tell of more 
than fifty years ago ! — Fifty years ! — Ah, think of 
the names written in the Lamb's Book of Life dur- 
ing those years ! 

My dear one's record recounts the story of the 
wedding-breakfast ; of farewell blessings ; and the 
singing of a parting song, composed and set to 
music by herself — a song in which loving tribute 
is paid to father, mother, little brother, and all 
dear friends. 



IN MEMORIAM. 



IOS 



Next comes the swift speeding of the post-chaise 
down the familiar avenue, across the knoll, on to 
the gate which opened so wide to let the bride 
through. — Out of the home boundary — on to the 
high-road.— Out, and away from the sound of the 
joyous peal of the marriage bells — away from the 
sound of the voice of the sturdy groom, who, hat in 
hand and wedding favored, repeated over and over 
the echoing " God bless you." 

" And then " — her own words — " the gate closed, 
my girl-life lay all behind me." 

The wedding journey as she described it is like 
a poem, but I can only give you a mere budget of 
items. 

For many of those days, sweet and lovely though 
their story be, hold scarce any Foregleams for us, 
except in the shadowy way in which all that is 
beautiful in love is a reflection from the There — for 
verily, all that illumines true joy in these lives of 
ours comes from above, like light. 

That high-road, entered through the wide open 
gate, led on to Ipswich, and past the " Sparrow 
House." 

A quaint old mansion, that in by-gone years 



I03 IN MEMORIAM. 

had for two centuries been the home of her ances- 
tors. 

A mansion that is still pointed out, to those cu- 
rious in such matters, as an excellent specimen of 
ornamentation in the time of Charles II. , its exterior 
being profusely ornamented with festoons, foliage, 
and bas-reliefs: those in front of the four bay-win- 
dows representing the four quarters of the world. 

Within, there is a finely carved chimney-piece, 

with the arms of Sparrow — and in the attic a room 
said to have been used as a secret chapel by the 
Jesuits; also a hiding-place where Charles II. is 
supposed to have been concealed : but the exterior 
is, after all, of more interest than the interior. 

Leaving Ipswich they proceeded to London : by 
sunset of the morrow they were there. 

Then a brief halt, and then on again, across 
Westminster Bridge, through Depthford, Norwich, 
and Dartford on the Thames — still onward — only 
lingering at Canterbury for a look at its Cathedral 
— then on till the evening of the fourth day, when 
at twilight they entered Dover, " the town com- 
pletely cradled under the cliffs," with their castle- 
crowned summit. 

Crowned though by ruins !— 



IN MEMORIAM. XO j 

For they were ruins with a broad outlook sea- 
ward, and skyward, too, for my precious one. 

Yes, she looked Up — that happy bride, Up, and 

the stars looked down on her. Up through 

smiles, and later on — she still looked Up when a 
lonely widow. Up always through smiles and 
through tears. 

When morning came, and the sailing-hour, rain 
fell : it was a dawning heavy with mist that soon 
shut away the white cliffs of old England. 

So they sped amid the rain and the mist across 
the channel for Calais ; which being reached — their 
way was still onward to Paris. 

You know the points of interest on that Paris- 
ward way — and you know enough now of my dear 
one's nature to enable you to understand her eager 
interest in the halts they made. And how full St. 
Denis was to her of meaning, with its church — the 
cemetery of many a French king — and a place, too, 
of relics — spite the destruction of revolutionary 
days. 

Though they could not all be restored when the 
edifice was rebuilt by Napoleon, whose nuptials with 
Marie Louise were celebrated before its beautiful 
altar. 



108 -W MEM OR T AM. 

Tears our young bride shed then — she remem- 
bered Josephine. Dear heart, she was always 

mindful of those who had known sorrow. 

Their stay in Paris was brief — for that wedding 
trip had for its goal her husband's far-off birthland, 
and after twelve days they hastened on toward 
Havre, from which port, on January 17th, they em- 
barked for America. 

A dreary season to sail, even though the voyage 
was homeward to the husband, and thus sunny- 
sided to the wife. 

Of the sailing day she writes : " Bright and not 
very cold." — 

She feared neither cold, nor wild wintry storms. 
All was bright — where her husband led ! — she loved 
him so. 

In the record of that voyage — which was so all un- 
like a now-a-day trip across the Atlantic — I find 
noted : 

" On the thirteenth day out a vessel was seen ; on 
the fourteenth day a beautiful little bird was caught 
on deck, a bird of gay plumage, supposed to have 
escaped from the vessel seen the previous day/' 

And thus days went on till February 24th, when 
floating sea-weeds heralded nearing Newfoundland 



IN MEMORIAM. i g 

Banks — and again days are numbered till March 3d, 
— they sailed January 17th! — when at last land! 
land ! ! was the cry. 

Most ended, the long voyage — almost home ! — 
Do you wonder that voyage under wintry skies, 
across storm-tossed waves — was like a parable of 
life to a soul quick as hers to catch the undertone 
meaning that is always brimful to a thoughtful, 
earnest listener? 

Do you wonder it held a Foregleam of life here 
and of life hereafter? — Marked as it was by the 
bright days and stormy days — the bird emblem of 
Hope, — and the land — Home! 

" Like unto ships far out at sea, 
Outward and Homeward bound are we." 

Homeward bound ! we should be comforted, you 
and I, who are still voyagers across this wide sea of 
Time. — 

For, Home is beyond. Home, and 

Home is Heaven. 

Yes, our " Home-centre " is in Heaven, where our 
dearest are now. — " Our circle here grows less and 
less. It is broken and broken, and then closed up 
again, and every break makes it narrower and 
smaller. But — what matter if for us, even while 



1 1 o IN MEMORIAM. 

the sun is scarce meridian high, the majority are on 
the other side ! The circle There is larger as the 
one here is less, and we vibrate between the two 

only a little longer, ,, and then we, too, will cross 

over — a little more patience and the balance will 
settle on the spiritual shore — and we shall be at 
Home in the Upper Sphere. 

Till that glad day comes let us try to say, 

" Dear Lord, we will 

" Wait in patient hope, although Thou long withhold 
The chalice, Death and Life brimmed, chrismal seal 
Of conquest, at whose touch the pearly gates unfold, 
And Heaven's high glories to the soul reveal." 

With such a blessed on-look, and knowing our dear 

ones are There, shall we complain ? No, — 

rather let us remember, 

"We only wait as minors, till the glad birthday 
Shall crown us — before our Father's throne." 

Let us remember too, 

"Comfortless, aye, orphan 'd, God dost never make 
His children. Trusting hearts are kept in peace." 

Oh ! if we only trust, then 

When our night-time comes, He will bid us sleep to 

wake 
Where every sob is hushed and sorrows cease." 



VI. 



REALIZING the truth, that we are swiftly drift- 
ing away from the dear old times that were the 
" young days" of a generation well-nigh passed 
from earth, — I will comply with your request, dear 

F , and copy somewhat more at length from 

the " little red record book," than is perhaps within 
the bounds of these fragmentary papers. 

Though revelations of her quick, bright intelli- 
gence ; her firm, true grasp of events and their bear- 
ings ; her love-warm, responsive heart certainly be- 
long to these In Memoriam pages. And I think 
every descriptive extract holds some suggestion of 
the Unseen and Beyond, that the Seen and the 
Present emblemed to a soul like hers — that ever 
felt the aspiring of the kingdom of heaven within 
the heart, reaching out in Upward looks. — 

For life had a wide horizon for her. In all it 

brought — and it brought much to sadden — she ever 

found a glow of hope. 

She was so buoyant by nature — and so strong 

(in) 



1 1 2 IN MEMORIA M. 

was her faith in that which is Above life's sorrows 
and disappointments, she made all who knew her 
happier and stronger by the cheer of her own bright, 
faithful soul. 

Then too, and this added to her influence — there 
was nothing stilted or conventional in her religious 
life. — She was fresh and natural in that, as she was 
in everything. 

Her faith was not a mere reflection of the lessons 
learned in childhood — though always they were 
abiding. — No, it was rather the thoughtful, earnest 
acceptance of a large experience ; a faith all the 
firmer after its severest trials and hardest discipline. 
— And because of this, she made very real the truth 
that life here is but the beginning of life There, 
the stepping-stone leading to endless progress and 
goodness. 

Hence now that she has gone to the blessed 
fruition of her desire, almost we forget the rough- 
ness of the path by which God sometimes led, so 
bright with heavenly radiance are the dear memo- 
ries of her, that stay like beacon lights to illume 
the way Up for us who are still " pilgrims of the 
nights- 
It is spring-time now — the song-birds are return- 



IN MEMORIAM. \ x 3 

ing. Soon in green nooks, in meadow, and by road- 
side, violets will be blossoming — the tender fronds 
of new ferns are beginning to unfold — all green 
things are waking up — how the mystery of future 
existence is proclaimed over and over again with 

every return of nature's resurrection season. And 

how well my dear one loved the spring— its mystery 
was so precious to her — she was so willing to rest 
in God's wisdom, so content to wait, — for truly she 
believed " it doth not yet appear what we shall be, 
but we know we shall be like Him when we see 

Him as He is." Like God — that was the likeness 

after which she strove while here on earth — and 
thus she lived in the felt Presence of the Infinite. 

Felt — you will understand this because even as 
you ask, How can we be like God ? — How can we feel 
His Presence? you know there is that within your 
heart that tells you, you may be — and that some- 
thing is the Infinite that is in every soul. 

But we have wandered so far from our opening 
of the " red book," truly we need to hasten our re- 
turn to that page, which might be the preface to an 
allegory. — And — it is — for surely, daily life, even 

though we call it commonplace, is still an allegory ! — 
8 



ii 4 



IN MEMORIAM. 



Her journal tells: 

" It was a moment of universal joy after having 
been tossed by the tempestuous billows for forty-six 

days to again behold the habitations of man, 

then too, to some it was the country that gave 
them birth — there after years of separation they 
were to behold again the friends and the scenes 
that belonged to their childhood. 

" To me it was a land of strangers, though of 
friends, for I was to meet those dear to the heart of 
my husband ; it was, too, a land of deepest interest, 
and I contemplated the little speck which darkened 
the horizon with feelings as sweet, if not as pro- 
found, as any among the group of passengers/' 

It was evening when the glimmer of Sandy Hook 
lighthouse became visible. Morning when the 
beautiful harbor was entered, and the city lay before 
them, " walled in apparently by a forest of masts." 

Do you trace the undertone metaphor in all 
this ?— 

A metaphor in which nature's sea and landscape, 
harbor and port, all indicate a spiritual, heavenly 
haven. 

Ah ! if thus for us " the light of the after-scene 
were always turned full upon the fore-scene, how 



m ME MORI A M. IIC 

even the smallest things would be elevated and 
touched with the dignity and beauty of the Here- 
after." 

A line from her journal now, " The anchor was 
thrown " — she states the fact, and then reflection 
follows as a rose opens from a bud. — And remem- 
ber, in all her reflections linked with this wedding 
journey, time had not yet counted twenty full years 
of life for her. — 

She writes : — 

" There is not perhaps any event that can make 
a meeting more interesting than a long sea voyage : 
the knowledge of the dangers escaped elevates our 
feelings and brightens our gratitude : the meeting 
of long separated friends presents a scene words 
can not describe; to see joy so animate, so pure, ex- 
pressed in every countenance, gives all around for a 
moment a cast of more than human happiness/' — 

What a Foregleam she had then ! — A gleam 
verily of heavenly meeting and reunion after life's 
voyage. 

"They will not return to us, but we shall go to 
them/' — that, I think, was the music to which her 
spiritual ear hearkened. — 



1 1 6 IN ME MORI A M. 

" 1 hear it, singing, singing sweetly, 
Softly in an undertone, 
Singing as if God had taught it." 

Foregleam music. — Do you hear it too? — Hark! 

" That music breathes through all my spirit, 
As the breezes blow through a tree ; 
And my soul gives light as it quivers, 
Like moons on a tremulous sea." 

Why ? — because 

"the sounds — 

How native, how house-hold they are ; 
The tones of old homes mixed with heaven, 
The dead and the angels, speak there. 
Dear voices that long have been silenced, 
Come clear from their peaceable land, 
Come toned with unspeakable sweetness 
From the Presence in which they stand." 

I will not linger to describe the "landing/* which 
was followed by an almost immediate embarking 
for the sail up the Hudson. 

Neither will I tarry over the arrival at the hill- 
side village, that is guarded westward by the Cats- 
kill range, the Indians called the " Mountains of 
the sky," — snow-crowned mountains at that season 
of the year. — 

The village guarded eastward by the broad Hud- 
son. 



IN MEMORIAM. 



117 



" It was three o'clock in the morning " — thus she 
tells — " when the boat was moored to the wharf — 
and moonlight." 

What a poem in those two words ! — Silent moon- 
light — the waves of that on-flowing river gleaming 
in silvery moonshine, and above it the sky ! — and 
the stars ! 

Then came the drive through the village street, 
and over the hills where the great pines that edged 
the roadside seemed like solemn sentinels guarding 
the way for this new-comer from across the wide 
ocean. — And then comes a sacred picture — the 
meeting of a father and mother with a long-absent 
son — and the welcoming as a daughter his young 
wife — that little bride of English birth. 

Even her written words, describing that hour, 
seem to glow with the deep, earnest emotions that 
thrilled her dear heart : 

" Joy beamed on every countenance, and pride 
on the part of the aged parents as they beheld 
their beloved son. I already felt to love them." 

She was always so loyal and true of heart, this 
"feeling" never wavered; she says of it — "that 
love increased." 

Hence her dear heart, her dear eyes were holden 



I i 8 IN MEMORIAM. 

from any shrinking away from the much in that 
simple home of an American pastor, that was so 
all unlike the stately ordering of her own parents' 
home. 

She saw only the good — and there was so much 
of that to see. 

And love had to aid in this happy seeing, the 
fact, that in spite of the absence of much this 
world's code of etiquette demands, always the spirit 
of true refinement held sway there — and culture of 
mind and culture of heart. 

It was, too, a home ruled by the motto, — 
"Thou, God, seest me'- and lighted by the prom- 
ise, " The pure in heart shall see God." 

Yes — God in the heart, and God in the home, was 
what she found: and "it is not outward circum- 
stances that form or give interest to a home : it is 
something far tenderer and deeper: it is the pulse 
of heavenly affection throbbing through every 
member, and coming down from the Infinite heart 
above." 

Catskill village she describes, — 
" In itself nothing particularly striking, but the 
scenery around most beautiful." 



IN MEMORIAM. IIg 

" Our parents' home," — notice the word, not his, 
but our, to this loving wife straightway they be- 
came our — " is on a hill which commands a view of 
the river rolling majestically through verdant val- 
leys. — On the other side are the mountains, tower- 
ing above the clouds — a grand range that Washing- 
ton Irving so beautifully calls the fairy mountains, 
'where every change of weather, indeed every hour 
of the day, produces some change in their magical 
hues and shapes. When the weather is fair they 
are clothed in blue and purple, and paint their bold 
outlines on the clear sky ; but sometimes when the 
rest of the landscape is cloudless they will gather 
a hood of grey vapor across their summits, which 
in the last rays of the setting sun will glow and 
light up like a crown of glory/ " 

In after years those glory-crowned mountains 
became types of the Heavenly Hills to my darling 

— and now within their shadow — in that quiet 

resting-place where the mortal waits immortality, 
her dear form is waiting the resurrection touch of 
the Resurrection Morn. 

" In Peace.'* — Only two words on the white stone 
that marks that resting-place. 

But on the stone the sign of the Cross ! 



1 20 IN MEMORIAM. 

" In the cross of Christ I glory, 



Peace is there that none can measure, 
Joys that through all time abide." 



Why ? — Because, 



" No cross— no saint, 
No cross— no Saviour.' 






VII. 

THERE is such a charm in memory-pages which 
portray the Past, — I think you will not weary even 
if I copy at some length from my dear one's 
u notes by the way." 

Telling as they do of people, so many of whom 
have gone from earth to Heaven, verily, even their 
written names seem like hand-clasps with the Be- 
yond. 

Seem, too, to bid our souls mount with them, 
the blessed departed, Up even into the High 
Heavens. 

And no less full of Upward-leading lessons are 
the records of by-gone scenes that hold no identity 
with now, except the fact of locality. 

For here, in our still youthful country, change 
and alteration so hold sway. Only nature stays 
the same. 

This changelessness of nature always had much 
of significance to my precious one, though its 

(121) 



122 IN ME MORI A M. 

Foregleam-meaning became more apparent as her 
earthly pilgrimage drew near its close. 

It was so beautiful, so tender a mindfulness of 
His own, the illumining with which the Heavenly 
Father opened those days the eye of her dear soul, 
to the recognition of the Future in the Past. 

For, can we doubt that it is the Heavenly Father 
who, as the natural senses begin to grow dim, and 
are soon to be fast locked by the mystery and the 
silence — we call death — opens wide a revelation of 
on-ward seeing ? 

No, surely, we can not doubt that God gives as 
it were a new sense to His dear children. 

And we have Bible authority for the belief. — Do 
you remember? — it is written in 2 Kings vi. 17 — 
" and Elisha prayed, and said, ' Lord, I pray Thee 
open his eyes, that he may see,' and the Lord 
opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw" — 
his eyes received a new power of vision ! 

But I return to the statement, that all her life 
was a Divine ordering. 

She was always so eager to impress this truth, 
and that the ordering' was sent to teach her " to 
value things not only for w 7 hat they now are, but 
for what they mean, for what they disclose of God's 



IN MEMORIAM. 



123 






intent, for the eternal treasure that is folded in 
them." 

My reason for noting this just here is, its recog- 
nition is what makes the chief importance of travel 
and extended acquaintance with the world and its 
inhabitants. 

For, " whatsoever tends to the enlargement of 
nature; which discerns in the Present seeds of the 
Future: in the affections of earth the promise of 
Heaven : in the Seen the symbols of the Unseen, 
is evidence of God's most tender care for the spir- 
itual growth of His children. " 

Viewed in this light — the light in which she re- 
garded all experiences — even prosaic details of her 
wedding-journey radiate Heavenly Foregleams. 

And in that glow I will resume copying from her 
journal where she records : 

" The time spent in Catskill passed away de- 
lightfully; on the nth of April, we proceeded to 
New York. 

" We passed down the North River ; it is impossi- 
ble to describe the beauties of the Highlands. Na- 
ture has here congregated so many of her impos- 
ing and glorious things together, one is overpowered 
with awe at her majestic works." 



124 



IN MEMORIAM. 



How vividly her soul is pictured in these de- 
scriptive bits ; how she felt, through every fibre of 
her responsive spirit, — 

" The presence and the power of greatness "; 
and, 

"Deep feelings impressed great objects on her mind," 
that dear mind that was so truly a 

"Thanksgiving to the power that made her": 
for 

" It was blessedness and love." 

Next comes a description of Revolutionary 
times, as sitting on the deck of the swiftly speed- 
ing boat the young husband pointed out to — as he 
playfully called her — his Tory bride, one and 
another point of interest near and about West 
Point. 

Almost we seem to catch the echo of a sigh 
from her tender heart, as she writes, " There Major 
Andr6 was sentenced to suffer death as a spy." 

Her record continues thus an interlinking of the 
visible with the invisible, till we come to the pages 
which picture the New York of more than fifty 
years ago. 



IN MEMORIAM. r 2 5 

She describes the Battery as a " fashionable prom- 
enade, its situation beautiful, commanding a fine 
water view." — And of Castle Garden she writes, — 
" It is in the Battery, and a place of great resort, 
where fire-works are displayed, and music enlivens 
the summer evenings with harmonious sounds." 

She also notes — " The street called Broadway is 
wide, and runs perfectly straight for a mile and a 
half." Among the city churches, Grace and St. 
Paul's are mentioned, also St. John's for its spire, 
"the highest in the city." 

The most famous public buildings are numbered 
too, and the flourishing village of Brooklyn ! 

But, as the object of these Memorial pages is to 
open looks Heaven-ward, we will not tarry amid 
brick and mortar. 

Neither will we do more than glide on swiftest 
wing through the annals of that onward trip which 
led Southward, then Eastward, and back again to 
the village among the hills. Among the days 
spent in Washington, the most prominent event of 
interest was the visit to the Capitol, and seeing the 
President, John Quincy Adams. 

I give her own account of Mount Vernon — she 
writes : 



126 M MEM OKI AM. 

" We passed through Alexandria, and entered a 
wood, the road through which was very intricate. 
After some few difficulties we'reached a spot ren- 
dered interesting as having been the residence of 
the great George Washington/' — But w T e will bridge 
her details of the house and grounds, and resume 
her narrative where the Tomb of Washington is 
pictured : 

" It is perfectly unadorned, and seems somewhat 
neglected — around stands a small grove of cedars, 
which serve to point out the humble cemetery of 
■him who was, and whose name still is, the pride of 
every American. " 

We know, without her telling, her reflections as 
she stood by that simple tomb, so all unlike the 
monumental honor wont to be accorded the illus- 
trious departed in her native land. 

For she was too quick of feeling not to rever- 
ence the something greater than any visible mark 
of honor that hovered about that retired grave, 
whispering in every breeze that stirred the cedar 
boughs, of an influence that needed no marble 
tablet to perpetuate it — for the man whose mortal 
remains rest there was superior to time : he lived 
for the immortal, and thus left the monument of 



IN MEMORIAM. 



127 



noble aspirations — " which make a life live again in 
those who carry forward his work." 

Yes, surely — a Foregleam of the truth, that mind, 
thought, and soul live forever, was tenderly folded 
in among the grass-blades my dear one gathered 
as mementoes from that tomb. 

Of the journey on to Baltimore, little of interest 
is recorded : neither does she enter into any special 
description of the city. 

Philadelphia is described more at length, but 
here, too, I find but few revealings of her own 
special self-hood. She tells of a brief stay at 
Princeton, and mentions with interest the Theolog- 
ical Academy — adding — " It is related that during 
the battle of Princeton, a cannon-shot entered the 
chapel, and tore the head from a portrait of 
" George the Third." 

But the English wife of the American husband 

makes no reflection on this tale she was always 

loyal to her husband's country. 

New York reached, again they resumed steam- 
boat journey, and proceeded to Providence, from 
which place they travelled on to Boston — by coach. 

She finds " nothing of special interest to record 



1 28 IN MEMORIAM. 

till," as she writes, " we reached Roxbury, where 
we saw the remains of the entrenchments thrown 
up by Washington in 1776, to shut the British 
troops up in the town — and the country on both 
sides retains marks of American forts, etc." 

Then follows the entrance to Boston — and arrival, 
as evening was closing in, at the residence of her 
husband's only sister, where a loving welcome 
awaited the travellers. 

A large company were assembled to receive the 
young English bride — and even to old age, she was 
wont to meet now one, and then another, who re- 
membered that evening when she came a stranger 
among strangers — but with a heart so love-warm — 
a mind so bright, and free from prejudice, that her 
soul was wide awake to take in every elevating im- 
pression, and to receive and give pleasure from, and 
to, all. 

The chief points of interest in and about the Bos- 
ton of those by-gone days are well known, — and yet 
there is a certain charm in her fresh descriptions of 
even familiar subjects that tempts me to tarry and 
tell in her own words of " Fanueil Hall, where the 
Americans first discussed the expediency of declar- 
ing themselves free and independent of England," 



IN MEMORIAM. I2 g 

— and of " the fine piece of ground called the Com- 
mon, considered one of the greatest ornaments of 
Boston. In its centre a tree called the tree of 
Liberty."— 

She also comments on the Navy Yard — and 
" Bunker Hill." And the beautiful environs of 
Boston she greatly admired. Indeed her stay in 
the "Athens of America" was all a delight to 
her. — 

The attentions of her husband's sister and family 
were, too, very sweet to her — and she never forgot 
the kindness shown her those days. 

It was ever thus, — gratitude was always awake in 
her heart ; even trifling courtesies were remembered. 
— For she possessed a nature that could bear the 
weight of feeling and recognizing gratitude — and 
this trait revealed a lofty nature — for it requires a 
lofty soul to be truly grateful, — enigma-like as the 
words seem. 

But I must not linger to enumerate the pleasures 
connected with those happy days of her first Boston 
visit. 

Indeed her journey leads on. — Inland their way 
now — by stage-coach called an extra — and only for 
their private use. 
9 



130 



IN MEMORIAM. 



Williamstown was their destination. — Her record 
tells : 

11 We passed through many towns and villages 
which did not interest me particularly." But na- 
ture was full of beauty. — " Woods, rocks, and water- 
falls," she writes, " gave an air of wildness, render- 
ing the scene peculiarly picturesque." 

It was the season when all the earth was a-glory 
with foliage and blossom. Early summer was 
treading over the hills and valleys : smiling on field- 
flowers — wooing the birds to song: the season of 
nature's June-time joy, — and it was reflected in 
her young, glad soul, for 

" Love sitting in the heart touches all the keys 
And brings out all the music." 

Hence that journey was like a song, and yet a 
song that held in its gladness the under-tone that 
is the echo of the Upper-tone. 

"We are continually traversing mountains and 
descending into deep ravines which seem unin- 
habited, and to me present a scene of the deepest 
interest." It is thus she pictures their way, and 
after a description of a rarely beautiful gorge be- 
tween the high hills, she adds : " I can not believe the 



IN MEMORIAM. 



131 



feeling it gives rise to, of the wonders of this beau* 
tiful world, can ever be effaced from the memory." 

And it never was from hers: for always she be- 
held nature's beauty with a reverence approaching 
awe. As though it were verily, — and is it not? — 
the tangible suggestion God has given of the Land 
Beyond : always she responded to nature's universal 
proclamation, " God reigns." 

But for the fear of wearying you, dear F , I 

would gladly copy every word that tells of those 
joy-encompassed days — but that fear bids me hasten 
on, as did our travellers with but a brief tarrying at 
11 Amherst, noted for Mount Pleasant : a large es- 
tablishment for the education of young gentlemen," 

thus she calls it. -Then followed a scarce longer 

stay at Northampton, where she stood, with her 
heart full of holy thoughts, by the side of the good 
David Brainerd's grave. Lebanon, and Shaker 
village too, are both noted, — and Lanesboro — a hill- 
guarded town, where her husband's honored grand- 
father had been pastor for over sixty years! — No 
wonder — for he was a Collins — and they are all 
men of stalwart faith. 

And now at last, Williamstown, the heart of their 
trip, is reached. 



132 



IN MEMORIAM. 



For there they received the welcome of the Pro- 
fessor brother, whose saintly life held a bright 
Foregleam of Heavenly influence for my dear one, 
— and whose early call from earth to Heaven, cast a 
shadow later on for that Foregleam to illumine. 

Pleasant is the account of the warm greeting that 
awaited the young couple at the hospitable home 

of Judge N , the father of that brother's win- 

some wife, who was so sweet a type of a young 
American bride for our English bride to know and 
love. 

But resolutely now, with no more pause over 
descriptive pages, I will bridge the way and time 
till again we find my darling in the Parsonage 
home — where the whole family were assembled. 
And where the days were framed in by prayer as the 
earthly father asked — at night and morning — bless- 
ings from the Heavenly Father. 

And, if the answers to those prayers came, some 
in the form of sorrow — surely they were still bless- 
ings even as joys were. 

" Angel of pain, I think thy face 
Will be in all the heavenly place. 



Dear, patient angel ! to thine own 



IN MEMORIAM. 

Thou comest, and art never known, 
Till late, in some lone twilight place, 
The light of thy transfigured face 
Sudden shines out, and speechless they 
Know they have walked with Christ all day." 



133 



VIII. 

Happy is the story of the days spent in that 
peaceful home — and quaint are the glimpses her 
pen gives of life in that mountain-village. 

She had then, and always, the gift of winning 
love wherever she went, and though the larger 
number of those who knew her in that long by- 
gone time, have crossed over to the " Other Shore/' 
there are white-haired men and women who still 
remember the English bride, whose smile was like 
sunshine, whose voice ever held the soft, clear note 
of responsive sympathy and interest. 

And this broad, all-embracing sympathy she 
truly felt. It was her sincerity that made its 
charm. 

She had " one of those hearts that are wide 

enough to open to all the human race," and yet 

narrow enough to admit only a few into the depth 

of her rare power of love and devotion, — emotions 

that, though they were so strong, were ever held in 

subjection to the command, " Keep yourselves 

from idols." 

(134) 



IN MEMORIAM. 



135 



Her wide-reaching sympathy was combined, toe, 
with that exquisite politeness of a former genera- 
tion, and this was linked with the sweet grace of 
Christian love, for truly her foundation rule of 
politeness was kindliness. 

The story of one of those Catskill-days sparkles 
with gladness, like a diamond among crystals, and 
so I choose it for the last word-picture of her wed- 
ding-journey. 

For it was quickly followed by embarking for 
France — and the first home of wedded life, — that 
Paris home she ever called " so dear," — she was so 
happy there. 

The day of which I tell was a mountain-day : a 
Foregleam-day. 

For, 

" In the mountains did she feel her faith." All 
things there u breathed immortality." 

Her anecdotical picture reads : " The road by 
which we ascended afforded much wild scenery, 
with many a glimpse of the surrounding country. — 
And the summit reached, words are inadequate to 
describe the extreme beauty of the extensive 
scenery. — It docs not seem possible that earth 
can present a scene of greater sublimity." 



1 3 5 IN ME MORI A M. 

Surely, as her dear hand traced the word earth, 
she had a Foregleam of that beauty " which eye 
hath not seen." 

Surely, the angel who keeps the door of the soul, 
opened hers wide then, as imagination reached Up 
and Beyond earth's mountain-tops. 

And she could see far. — Her imagination had 
been trained to Upward looks even from childhood. 
And the culture of the imagination means, " first, 
to learn to see the beauty and grace which God 
has poured out on sky, land, and sea : on body 
and soul, on society and art ; and then to be a cre- 
ator of beauty, carrying the idea of the perfect into 
all we do." 

The highest idea — the striving to live in the 
light of Christ's command, " Be ye perfect, even as 
my Father in Heaven is perfect." 

Not that we ever really attain that height while 
here below — nevertheless we can always be striving 
Upward. 

Striving to ascend ! that motive is the essence 
of heavenliness in the soul. 

For the effort to live a higher life will help us to 
be heavenly : will at last " prepare us to rise from 
the earthward, whence comes all pain and sorrow, 



IN MEMORIAM. r 3 7 

into the heavenliness where pain and sorrow are 
all unknown." 

And now for a minute I return to her descrip- 
tion of those mountain-hours : 

"The beautiful Hudson River lay like a line of 
light upon the landscape as it stretches away 
among the parted hills and valleys ; here and there 
on its silvery surface might be seen some passing 

sail floating on the distant waters After 

gazing on this proud spot of nature we proceeded 
to the Falls — where seems the spot to stand and 
behold the wonder-works of the Almighty, and 
feel our own insignificance ; .... it is a pleasure 
to linger, gaze, and admire." 

As clouds are wont to follow sunshine, so close 
following that happy day came sadness to her — 
the parting with the kind parents and many 
friends. 

And then, on a summer morning the Nautilus 
sped across the quiet waters of the Bay, and the 
husband and wife "boarded the ship Charlemagne" 
waiting with full-spread sails and anchor ready to 
heave with the first breath of favoring wind. 

By sunset the Nautilus was at her mooring, safe 



r 38 IN MEMORIAM. 

in port again, while the ship, like a white-winged 
bird, was sailing away seaward. 

My dear one writes of that day: "It was not 
without the deepest regret we quitted so many 
friends and so interesting a country." 

And of the voyage she records : 

" Nothing of particular interest occurred till very 
near its end ; then there came a day, when the coast 
of England was distinctly seen, and hopes of reach- 
ing Havre on the morrow were bright. — But by 
nightfall a heavy gale impeded the ship's prog- 
ress." 

It was dark — the storm was wild — the waves ran 

high suddenly the stanch ship that had braved 

the wide ocean was stayed in its onward way a 

hidden reef was struck danger was near. — 

But her husband was with her ; God held " the 
sea in the hollow of His Hand "; she was not 
afraid. 

In the gray light of dawning, when the storm was 
hushed, the wind a-calm, she went on deck, and 
with her husband's arm around her, — as her " red 
book" tells, she "gazed on a most beautiful scene," 
and she adds : " We were so near to the coast we 
could distinctly see sheep feeding in the fields ; and 






IN MEMORIAM. 



*39 



the rocks were white as snow, so tossed with foam 
were the breaking waves/' 

Then came another heavy gale — new danger ; but 
at last a pilot boarded the stranded vessel, and 
through his skilful guiding the reef was cleared — 
and the ship safely steered, 'mid rocks and breakers, 
till at last Port. 

My darling's wedding-journey was ended. It's 

last chapter a Foregleam. For surely, if the out- 
ward voyage had been a metaphor — the return was 

another. A Life-type — a rough voyage but 

Homeward ! — 

And I think it was a memory of that emblem 
storm that in after years, when waves of sorrow 
well-nigh overwhelmed her, so often led her to ask: 
" Say to me the voyager's hymn." 

Always I knew she meant, 

" Fierce was the wild billow, 

Dark was the night; 
Oars labour'd heavily, 

Foam glimmer'd white; 
Trembled the manners, 

Peril was nigh ; 
Then said the God of gods, 

' Peace ! It is I ! ' 

u Ridge of the mountain-wave, 
Lower thy crest ! 



140 IN MEMORIAM. 

Wail of Euroclydon, 

Be thou at rest ! 
Sorrow can never be, — 

Darkness must fly, — 
When saith the Light of Light, 

Peace ! It is I ! ' 

"Jesu, Deliverer, 

Come Thou to me ! 
Soothe Thou my voyaging 

Over Life's sea ! 
Thou, when the storm of Death 

Roars, sweeping by, 
Whisper, O Truth of Truth ! 

'Peace! It is I!'" 

From the light on her dear face, ever I knew my 
precious one caught, even when tossed on the bil- 
low's topmost crest, a glimpse of the eternal haven 
anchorage in Heaven. 






IX. 



As I hesitate in opening heart-closed doors that 
guard the sacredness of sorrow, so I hesitate in 
unveiling great joy. 

But this life-story would be incomplete without 
some mention of the joyful years God granted my 
dear one as a beautiful preface to the sorrowful 
years that came afterward. 

I say beautiful — for truly, I believe joy is the best 
preparation for sorrow that God gives us — and it 
seems His chosen way. 

For, " if He thought grief the best preparation 
for grief, why did He not make little children un- 
happy to begin with?" 

Certain it is bright as sunshine is the record I 
find of " Paris days and the first home in Rue de 
aery." 

Reading of that home in her " red book," and 
recalling the memories she so often recounted of it, 
I can but wonder, was her flower-bowered salon 

within the shadow of the once famous Rue de Clery 

(141) 



142 



IN MEMORIAM. 



salon, where Madame Necker assembled about her 
the wits of fore-time Paris days. 

Chief among the most familiar friends who form- 
ed the circle of thought-loving, yet pleasure-enjoy- 
ing, men and women whose society she so keenly 
appreciated, was Washington Irving and his nephew, 
Theodore, and many another name of note in the 
world of letters at that time. 

I would fain unlock the Silence and hearken to 
the " table-talk" of that early home, the atmos- 
phere of which — for "intellect is the atmosphere of 
the soul" — stayed with her, as the bark encompasses 
the heart of a tree, all her life long. 

Grave, I know, were the themes sometimes dis- 
cussed, for though she was young she spoke of 
death. 

And, " the idea of death opens the world of 
deeper unknown existence." 

And even then, plainly her own record reflects, 
too, she was one of those whose way was to be 
ever " looking at earth as from Heaven, instead 
of looking at Heaven from earth." 

But while this was so, I do not want to give you 
an erroneous impression of her. — I repeat, she was 
not one of the passively good. — She was too quick 






IN ME MORI AM. r 4 3 

and impulsive by nature for that, too strong of 
will, and independent in thought. 

She was a thoroughly pronounced character — 
there was nothing stereotyped about her. 

She was always as fresh in expression and 
thought as the water of a mountain-stream is clear 
and sparkling — and her soul was so guileless, if 
evil came near her, it melted and vanished as ice 
before sunshine. 

The fact that she found the elements of poetry 
everywhere was simply because she brought it with 
her. 

Yet — though her life was a living Upward, and 
thus Heavenward, understand me, she was not one 
of those "who, cast on the open sea of life, and 
subject to crossing winds and waves, without labo- 
rious studying of the spiritual chart, or painful 
shaping of their wills are still found ever on the 
spiritual side." — No — she found it hard to bow to 
God's will. — Much discipline she needed before 
with no holding back she could say : " Thy will, not 
mine, be done." 

It was not without struggle that she won the 
victory — she needed to remember to the very end 
of her earthly life, her childhood's lesson of Chris- 
tian warfare — and the Christian's armor. 



144 IN MEMORIAM. 

" My will is like the oak of my native land — the 
strong English oak — hard to break.'' 

Thus she said when very near Home. 

But when she did yield — it was no half surren- 
der — it was full, complete. 

More complete from the fact that it was " through 
deliberate resolve she chose the Higher guidance/' 

What a wandering all this from the history of 
the sunny day that fills the diary page open before 
me. A page that tells of a live-long day spent at 
the summer-home of friends. 

A day when shadows from the fleecy clouds — 
that never more than half veiled the sunshine — 
played over the green of lawn and terrace, like 
smiles play over a baby's face : when flowers like 
dreams of beauty perfumed the air. Do you re- 
member Joubert says — " the odor of flowers is their 
souls!" 

And when gay butterflies flitted from rose to 
lily-bell as joy flitted to and fro among that happy 
company, — so late they lingered, it was after 
night-fall before the return to Paris — where their 
entrance was delayed, she writes, " by the gens 
d'armes, who demurred about our carriage enter- 
ing within the Barrier, till Mr. Irving's passport 



IN MEMORIAM. 



145 



proved a pledge that we might safely be ad- 
mitted." 

And now — that gay company have nearly gone 
from earth ! The young husband of her love and 
pride ; — Washington Irving, the kindly, tender- 
hearted man ; — Theodore Irving, who in later life 
left Heavenly Foregleams for earthly pilgrims as 
he penned the pages of the volume called "A 
Fountain of Living Waters " — and that booklet 
which has comforted so many a sorrowing mother, 
telling of " a tiny foot-fall within the Golden Gate." 

All gone and — my darling gone too. — But, 

thank God, they all live in the light of immortality, 
and an undying influence — not reputation, but in- 
fluence, remember. 

In my dear one's writing I find this expressed in 
words she copied : " Influence is impersonal, un- 
known reputation : no matter whether or not the 
men of the future know your name if they are in- 
fluenced by your life." 

" Up and away, like the dew of the morning, 
Soaring from earth to its home in the sun — 
So let me steal away, gently and lovingly, 
Only remembered by what I have done. 

10 



I4 6 IN MEMORIAM. 

u Up and away, like the odors at sunset, 
That sweeten the twilight, as darkness comes on ; 
So be my life — a thing felt, but not noticed, 
And I but remembered by what I have done." 



I note still another page from her Paris memories 
— the happiest, holiest of them all — for it tells, 
" This happy home is made more joyful by the 
coming of our precious baby." And again- 
after many more pages comes " another darling 
God has sent." — And then she adds: " Happy, 
happy days glide on ; we are surrounded by loving- 
friends. The charming family of General Lafayette, 
with his own genial cordiality, add much to our en- 
joyment, and make us happy in numbering them 
among our best friends : the delightful hours spent 
in their hospitable home are full of pleasure, 
as well as the meeting there so many men and 
women of culture and renown." 

I will not linger over those details 1 only 

copy these because they bring out in clear, beauti- 
ful relief the rare character of my dear one, who 
when God called her to exchange this bright life 
of luxury for the new, strange life of reverse, ac- 
cepted the change without a murmur. 

Accepted it with so bright a spirit that she made 



IN MEMORIA M. j 47 

the joy of home to the sons and daughters to 
whom God ordered she should for many years fill 
not only a Mother's but a Father's place too. 

And she was so young — the change was so great 
— she was so brave.— — 

But all this did not come till years were count- 
ing on — a decade and a half almost after the Paris 
days. 

She had known a happy home in the land of her 
husband's birth for long — other little children God 
had given to make life pure and sacred. — And 
then came the grief after which life never was 
the same. 

For widowhood — great was the sorrow it meant 
for her. 

It was during those years that she made an open 
confession of her faith in Christ, and became a 
member of the church of which Dr. Mason was 
then pastor. 

But my dear one's entrance on the life of a 
Christian as a church-member was marked by no 
special change in her feelings. 

Her soul had always been in profound earnest in 
its reach after " Higher things," and this desire had 
deepened with increasing years. 



I 4 8 IX MEMORIAM. 

It was never dimmed even when at different 
periods she was hedged in by worldly pleasures, 
associations, and society. 

And her spiritual life was, like herself, natural, 
earnest, individual, broad in its charity — there was 
nothing narrow about her, and yet withal her faith 
was simple as a little child's. 

Well-nigh every day — even down to old age — she 
repeated the hymn learned in early youth — and 
which is an index to the humble simplicity of her 
trust and desire: 

" Quiet, Lord, my fro ward heart ; 
Make me teachable and mild, 
Upright, simple, free from art ; 
Make me as a little child : 
From distrust and envy free, 
Pleased with all that pleases Thee. 

" What Thou shalt to-day provide, 
Let me as a child receive ; 
What to-morrow may betide, 
Calmly to Thy wisdom leave ; 
Tis enough that Thou wilt care ; 
Why should I the burden bear ? 

'• As a little child relies 
On a care beyond his own, 
Knows he's neither strong nor wise, 
Fears to stir a step alone, 



IN MEMORIAM. 

Let me thus with Thee abide, 
As my Father, Guard and Guide.' 



149 



Do you wonder her dear life left Heavenly Fore- 
gleams ? 

How could it help it — when so truly she be- 
lieved. 

For faith was no dream to her : it was a solemn 
reality. — Hence it emitted light even from "within 
the Veil/' as a star emits light from the sun's re- 
flected rays. 

Not that she attained spiritual heights all at 
once. — No, it was slow progress, as the surest prog- 
ress is wont to be. — I want to impress this — and 
the fact that it was each day a living Higher Up. 

Her love for Christ was intense and deep — and 
this was why she carried about with her fervor of 
spirit, and energy of action for His work. 

Hers was a joyful spirit, too, and Peace, that 
white-winged dove of serenity, ruled in her heart : 
that faithful, true heart. 

And this soul-life was combined with a naturally 
overflowing tenderness and love. 

Among her papers — yellow, time-stained papers 
now — I find many a sweet revelation of the holy 
meaning Motherhood had for her. 



156 IN MEMORIAM. 

" A Mother," thus she writes, " whenever she im- 
prints a kiss on an infant's cheek, should send a 
prayer to Heaven that her child may prove an angel 
of mercy to a perishing world." 

And often I have heard her say : " I never bathed 
my darlings without a prayer that their souls might 
be washed and made pure in the blood of the 
Lamb." 

But it is of the growth of those graces that have 
most to do with Heavenly Foregleams that I want 
to tell you, dear F . 

Graces that each hold a suggestion of an answer 
to your questions regarding the Hereafter, and 
those gone from our earthly homes to Heaven. 

And as they ripened in her soul, they were truly 
" fruits of the Spirit" — and freighted, as all Chris- 
tian graces are, with two-fold meanings : one that 
only the eye of faith can discern, the other "he 
who runs may read." 

For in the spiritual life, 

" Two worlds are ours, 'tis only sin 
Forbids us to descry 
The mystic heaven and earth within, 
Plain as the sea and sky." 



X. 



" Fruits of the Spirit," I repeat, that each one 
hold a Foregleam. 

God grant our lives, like her dear life, may help 
make these Foregleams shine and kindle on-reach- 
ing ray for other lives. 

And they will, if the fruits ripen from faith 
blossoms — for Faith is the Heavenly illuminator. 

Ah ! have we faith ! you and I ? — You remember 
how Paul, after numbering the works of evil, writes 
— " they which do such things shall not inherit 
the kingdom of God " — and then he adds — 

" But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, 
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith." 

How plainly each fruit exemplified in holy liv- 
ing is a Foregleam torch. And now let us take 
one or two of them and place by the side of your 
question, — ' Is love abiding? Do the departed love 
us still ? ' 

Love — it meant much to my precious one. — And 
through her love for the dear ones God gave her, 



1 5 2 IN MEMORIAM. 

and their love for her, she caught beautiful glimpses 
of Heavenly Love. For her starting-place was 
" God is Love " — thus human love was a reflection 
of the Divine in man. — And belief in that Divine 
love its truest revealer — though "what God's love 
is, none but His loved ones know ; even they hardly 
know it, for God only knows the love of God." 

Yet, though but partial her knowledge, Christ's 
love was her " green Pasture " land. — " His giving 
Himself for her, the proof of His love ; her giving 

herself to Him, the proof of her love." And 

universal love to those He loved was its earth-side 
blossom ; special love for the inner-circle of nearest 
and dearest, its Heavenly Foregleam pledge. 

She was always " so glad " Christ recognized this 
special love. 

And for the tender comfort His recognition of it 
gives, she felt the words of special affection for 
Lazarus were recorded : — " Behold how He loved 
him." 

" Love's consecration," I think she would have 
called those words. — And bright was her smile in 
the light of the knowledge they give that we need 
not fear loving our dear ones too much, as long as 
the feeling is love — not idolatry ! 



IN MEMORIAM. 



153 



She was wont to lay great stress on this distinc- 
tion — and in her dear heart it was love the deep- 
est, devotion the most entire — but always God first. 

And now tell me, in the light of this love for our 
dearest : blessed by God : — given by God : — God 
who has set His seal to Resurrection, for, " now is 
Christ Risen/' is there not an answer to your ques- 
tion : Do the departed love us still ? 

Truly it seems to me, to admit a doubt of 
their continuing love is almost — with reverence I 
write it — like an accusation against the Giver of 
love — for how can we separate from our idea of 
God that which God is — Love? — " And now abideth 
Love." — " And we also believe, knowing that He 
which raised Up the Lord Jesus will raise us Up 
also by Jesus." — 

Raise us Up with love in our souls — tenderer, 
deeper love than now we can conceive, for it will 
be all Heavenly then. 

And this love they now feel for us. — Ah ! yes, 
we know they love us still, though of the how we 
can not tell ; but for the solving of that mystery we 
are content to wait — we know, 

" Thou, O Friend 
From heaven, that madest our heart Thine own. 



154 



IN MEMORIAM. 

Dost pierce the broken language of its moan — 
Thou dost not scorn our needs, but satisfy! 

Each yearning deep and wide, 

Each claim, is justified. " 



And what claim strong as the claim of love ? 



XL 



FAR backward dates the first Foregleam that 
came to my dear one through her own heart's ex- 
perience of the sureness — even amid the shadows 
of the valley of death — that love here, is but the 
herald of love There. 

There "where dear families are gathered," 
There "where we find the joy of loving as we never 
loved before." 

" Tis but one family — the accents came, 
Like light from heaven to break her woe. 



Death never separates : the golden wires 
That ever tremble to their names before, 
Will vibrate still, though every form expires, 
And those we love, we look upon no more. 

" No more, indeed, in sorrow and in pain, 
But even memory's need ere long will cease, 
For we shall join the lost of love again, 
In endless lands, and in eternal peace." 

The revelation of her firm belief in future re- 
union I find smiling out from the tears she shed, 

(155) 



1 56 IN MEMORIAM. 

when not many years after America became home, 
sorrow entered her happy dwelling, for from it 
"Jesus called a little child unto Him," and her 
baby " was crowned with glory." But — the mother 
on earth was left weeping — and yet — and here be- 
gins the dawning of a Foregleam — her tears were 
tears of submission. 

Years — long years — like wave after wave break- 
ing on some ocean beach, separate now from the 
time of which her journal tells. 

But Mother-hearts have been the same ever 
since in " Rama was there a voice heard, lamenta- 
tion and weeping for the children that were not." 
— And without comment I copy her words : for you 
will catch her sureness of finding her child again, 
without my pointing out to you the hope-places 
among them, that shine like dew-drops when sun- 
light awakes the flowers.. 

It had been a time of anxious watching : a time 
of pain for the little child : of agony to the mother 
powerless to soothe. 

But all suffering was over hours before God took 
the baby — when the moment came for the last 
faint breath — and the soul — a child's soul, went — 
her journal tells : — u Not a sigh was heard, there 



IN MEMORIAM. 



157 



was no struggle — and my precious child was in the 
arms of Jesus/' 

" We laid flowers around the little form, meet 

emblems for one so pure I am sitting by the 

side of my beloved baby — who is now a happy little 
angel hovering around the throne of our merciful 

Redeemer Oh! how I ought to rejoice in 

being the Mother of an angel." 

How we read between the lines that the rejoicing 
was hard — so hard and yet, in that very hard- 
ness, the first gleam of spiritual joy was ripening 
with its Heavenly Foregleam, a foundation-stone 
of comfort to her, in that, and the after sorrows 
that came with the mystery and the silence. 

" I shall go to them." She rested in that shall 
go all her life long — and now — she has gone ! 

Her record continues: "'The Lord gave, and 
surely He has a right to take away/ .... I ought 
not to grieve 

" Cease thy sorrow, stricken heart, 
Think of the home thy child hath won, 
And joy that she is There." 

Yes, surely the grace of "sorrowing yet rejoic- 
ing " began to unfold for her with the coming of 



158 * N MEMORIAM. 

her first inlook through " death to life "---the first 
loosening of an earthly tie that was " touched with 
rays from light that is Above. " 

And never did her angel child seem far away. 

This nearness of the departed was always a very 
present feeling to her. 

Not that she ever strove to go beyond revelation. 
— She always accepted the mysteries of the unseen 
world. She ever shrank back, as though hurt, from 
the efforts made to interpret the Beyond where 
Scripture is silent. 

Those useless efforts, that are so wont to be un- 
worthy in conception, and that so fail to console 
by their mirage of " fancied sight." 

The sense of nearness she felt was Uplifting, and 
she thought it comfort given by God — in her mem- 
ory-book it finds expression in the copied'lines : 

" Mother — behold thy child an angel now ! 
Now in her Father's Home she finds a place— 

Or if to earth she takes a transient flight — 
Tis to fulfil the purpose of His Grace, 

To guide thy footsteps to the land of light, 
A ministering spirit sent to thee, 
That where she is, there thou may'st also be." 

And — are they not all " ministering spirits, 

sent forth to minister to those who are heirs of Sal 



IN MEMORIAM. j gg 

vation? ,, and — she was an heir — for — she loved 

Christ. 

After baby went there came years free from 
death's shadow — and then came the 'year of years' 
to her. 

It was spring-time; April sunshine and April show- 
ers played among the blossoms — called the early 
birds northward, woke up the tender flowers too, 
and hung golden tassels on the willow boughs. 

And yet it was then — in the trustful time of 

nature's resurrection season, that she felt in her 
heart the touch of an ice-cold hand ; fear en- 
tered — like frost upon a flower — anxiety became 
reality. 

And she knew her husband was going where the 
child had gone Home to God. 

1 In such a sorrow did she find a Foregleam?' 

Yes ; hand in hand with the agony of parting — 
the grief, desolation, and loneliness — came Peace. 

Her Lord remembered His promise — " My peace 
I give unto you." — And she found Him tenderly, 
faithfully mindful of His own. 

Her trust of the happy days became her support 
in the dark hours. 



l60 IN MEMORIAM. 

It is always thus — only trust Him and you will 
know. 

Again I give her own record : again I leave you 
to find shining in it the Heavenly Foregleams her 
belief held. 

Sacred is the task of this copying — let the read- 
ing be sacred too; for remember, the words are 
words from a widow's heart : — 

" He whom my soul loved as my life, has passed 
from earth to heaven : he is no longer my guard 
and guide! Yes — he is a ministering spirit now — 
he whispers, l Look Up* — God is Love." 

And then, so clear her faith vision, almost she 
seemed to hear, in audible voice, that husband, so 
well beloved, saying to her — 

" I am redeemed from all pain ! I am not far 
away from you ! I am near to comfort and strength- 
en you. — Life is passing away ; soon together we 
will cast our crowns at the feet of Him who hath 
redeemed us from death." 

Do you tell me, this is all imagination — all like 
the 'fancies' from which I said she shrank — that 

she heard no voice for that silence never yet 

was broken ? 

I can not answer you. 1 only know there have 






IN ME MORI AM. ! 6 1 

been saintly souls comforted by God by a very real 
nearness to Him, and their dear ones who are with 
Him. 

I only know, what has been may be again. 

I only know " Stephen looked Up Steadfastly 
into Heaven and Saw." I only know Jacob ' dream- 
ed/ and in that dream was lifted Up to apprehend 
" Higher things than dreams are made of," and when 
he awoke he said, "this is the gate of Heaven." 

I only know a holy and happy life is the ' com- 
munion of saints,' for it tells us of " our fellowship 
with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ" — 
and that having that, we have fellowship one with 
another. 

I only know the " dead in Christ live." — " Con- 
sider how near we must be to each other when 
they are said to be imperfect without us." 

Blessed, beautiful is this knowledge that they, 
our saints, are among the "cloud of witnesses." 

Think, your dearest — my dearest, "leaning down, 
as it were, to watch us." 

Ah ! we think we are left alone and helpless — 
while " the air is full of angels, and Heaven is full 
of prayers." 
ii 



1 62 S* r MEMORIAM. 

u And even thus we meet, 

And even thus we commune ! spirits freed, 

And spirits fettered." 

For the promise is " heirs together of the grace 
of life." 

" Together — blessed word — we are still together, 
inasmuch as we are dwelling in Christ." 

Hence, " so long as the question is, ' Who can sep- 
arate as from the love of God,' it is too — who can 
separate as from one another? " All this my dar- 
ling ever realized, just as she did that 

"Death is another life, we bow our heads 
At going out, we think, and enter straight 
Another golden chamber of the King's 
Larger than this, and lovelier." 






XII. 

BRIEFLY I will note the years of widowhood. 

Enough to record, that they held many shadows. 

There came a day when she stood again by a 
new-made grave. 

God called from earth to Heaven a well-beloved 
son : called him when he was in the early dawning 

of a brave, hope-glowing manhood, but she 

made no murmur. — " All was right, God did it." 

"Yea, though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" 
— that trust was her shield. 

Other great trials she knew too : heavy sorrows : 
" I have been disciplined in the very points that 
touched me closest," thus often she said — adding — 
so humble was she, " I have been a slow scholar." 

But — " the Lord loveth whom He chasteneth " — 
and His love upheld her through all. 

And this she gratefully acknowledged even down 
to old age. 

For, it was her seventieth birthday when she 

wrote : 

(163) 



lS^ IN MEM OR JAM. 

" I would testify to the faithfulness of our 
Father's promises, for surely I can say goodness 
and mercy have followed me all my days." 

This was so like her — for she never lingered in 
the mists of earth's valleys of shadow — she ever 
went on her way with a cheerful faith climbing 
Upward — even till she reached " the hills of God." 

And as she climbed she never deemed any ser- 
vice of love too slight to be worth the rendering, 
even though it were naught more than the making 
a child glad. 

Though that is not a slight service, " for to help 
a child to be happy is to help to make it good, 
and to make any one good is a service fit for an 
angel." 

Ah ! the voices of the children that chorus pleas- 
ures and pleasures she planned for them, brighten- 
ing all by the aid of her joy-inspiring spirit. 

But I need not recount them. For, " the best 
portion of a good life are the little, nameless, un- 
remembered acts of kindness and of love," and of 
these her life was full. 

Old age — surely, there can be no old age for 
those whose souls keep always fresh and young. 



IN MEMO RI AM. 1 65 

And my dear one's soul did keep thus — there 
was no dimness of mind — no weakening faculties 
to mark the years. 

Not till the last illness did her step lose its 
quick, elastic spring — her hands their dexterous 
touch. — And her intellect never was clearer than 
during those months when she was drawing so near 
to Heaven. 

As I recall all this — truly, it seems a Foregleam 
of immortality — a foreshadowing, as it were, of per- 
fected faculties. 

For with it great serenity of spirit deepened — 
and love expanded till her very countenance was 
luminous from the soul's out-shining. 

The way by which God led was so tender — so 
many were the words of truth and grace the Com- 
forter brought to her remembrance. 

Scripture truths, too, seemed glowing with new, 
beautiful meanings to her ; — and her dear soul was 
much wrapt in the enfolding of prayer. 

All her by-gone lessons, even the bitterest, 
seemed to spring up in blessings for those last 
earthly days — like tender grass-blades that upspring 
all the greener after the mower's sharp scythe has 
done its work. 



1 66 IN ME MORI A M. 

Do you wonder at this? — if you do, remember — 
her daily life " had anticipated the life to come, 
and her soul heard melodies from beyond the 
gates." 

But — oh, the tenderness of it the blessed 

" quietness from God " that was like the repose of 
a mid-summer twilight when the sky is cloudless. 

And so her room — the place where she waited 
for the Master's welcome, " Come, ye blessed of my 
Father," — was bright with a rainbow Foregleam. 
" And even as the Bow in the cloud in the day of 
rain, so was the appearance of brightness round 
about." 

A Rainbow of Foregleams. — Over-arching what 
the world called a " Chamber of death ! " 

But — there was no death there, it was Life. 

She knew the Christ had trod the path of mortal 
death before her — she knew His promise, " I am with 
you — Fear not." She knew " He was as strong as 
He is tender, as wise as He is loving." She knew 
she took no step alone ; she was not afraid — the 
" solitude of departure was filled with Jesus." A 
living Saviour — and His assurance, c< Because I live, 
ye shall live also." 



IN ME MORI A M. ! 67 

A living soul going out into the mystery and 
the silence. 

It is this Life that gives Heavenly Foregleams — 
Life that lights up the valley of the shadow of 
death Life ! 



Nevertheless — for us who remain it is separation 
— loneliness. But shall we murmur, if it is His 
will, that thus we be "buried with Him" — the Man 
of Sorrows — in sorrow — " that we may through the 
grave and gate of death" — earthly discipline — for 
heavenly fitness — " pass to our joyful resurrection, 
for His merits, who died and was buried, and rose 
again for us — Jesus Christ, our Lord." 

This was the last collect to which my darling 
listened and then — the gate opened — the East- 
ward gate, toward Sunrise ! And she had gone 

from earth's shadows to heaven's light gone to 

her "joyful resurrection." 

Thanks be to God who giveth Victory — through 
Christ. 



1 68 * N MEMORIAM. 

" merciful Father ! 
Thy knowledge of us makes Thy pity more deep : 
Our knowledge of Thee bids us trust while we weep : 
For it is when we weep we are often most still : 
They who mourn most keep often more close to Thy will 
Thou wert always our Father, each sun that arose 
Has done nothing through life but fresh mercies disclose 
But we feel when the joy of our life is laid low, 
Thou hast ne'er been so tender a Father as now." 



